2008 Recap

What a year it has been! I just took down the 2008 calendar and thought I'd give you a quick recap of some of the year's exciting events:

January: Dave and I attended a Super Bowl party with friends from church. Eli Manning's Giants won. We didn't know then that "Eli" was going to become a very popular name at our house.

February: Pregnant! Dave and I had fun keeping our news a secret for a few weeks. The trickiest time came when we went in for our first prenatal appointment. Since my doctor works with Dave and they even share an office, we knew we'd have to do some pretty fancy footwork to keep the beans from spilling. I'm not sure we did a great job... but all of Dave's coworkers were so excited for us!

March: We introduced the "Ultimate October Challenge" to our families. Rebekah and teammate Tristan ended up winning this guess the baby game.

April: Dave and I visited my brother's family in North Carolina over Easter. The weather was great and we loved going to the NC Zoo.

May: Dave completed a 100 mile bike ride MS fundraiser and Christel took on a leadership role with BSF. Busy! Busy! Busy!

June: This marked Christel's final days as a public school teacher. I'll miss the opportunity to influence so many different children from so many different backgrounds. I've really loved helping kids become better readers, writers, and thinkers. I'm sure God's going to continue using those skills in my life some way! June was the month of our Southwest Adventure and the 9th marked our first wedding anniversary. What a month!

July: Lots of pool time in the backyard. We enjoyed sharing time with friends, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and parents throughout the month.

August: The month began with a journey to Huntington, IN for a baby shower and ended with a journey back for a house closing. Praise the Lord! Dave completed the second annual Sanford and Sun Triathlon.

September: "The Final Month" We kept busy! Dave did another triathlon in Tawas and I walked and walked and walked.

October: Dave and I welcomed little Eli James on the 17th. Before the 17th, I was big. After the 17th, I was tired (and thrilled!).

November: Dave prepped the pool to become an ice rink and we had many visitors come meet Eli.

December: Lots and lots of snow! The pool/rink has been a huge success. We've enjoyed a month of watching our little guy smile and grow. It was fun to introduce Eli to cousin Micah, born on the 2nd.

It has been a wonderful year. We feel blessed to be part of a fun family, loving church, and-most importantly-children of an awesome God. Happy New Year! (Our last one sure was...)

A few pictures from the holidays...

Fascinated by the Uncles.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Eli inside his Christmas stocking.

Mulder family Christmas. It's increased by TWO this year!

This video is a little dark, but it captures some great smiles.

Smiles

Chillin' in my chef hat.

Big smile! This is about the way he looked when we told Eli about his new cousin, Micah Alan Huisman. Yipee!

Really big smile in my new outfit from Grandpa.

Yay! I slept through the night!

...but still tired enough during the day to catch a little nap with my dad.

It's Hockey Night in... Midland!

Operation Pool-Turned-Ice-Rink is up and running. Thanks to early cold temperatures, Dave was able to break out the skates and skate on the pool!

Hanging out with my dad.

Making faces at each other. Eli's smiled at Dave a couple of times, but I've yet to catch it on film.

First bottle.

A family photo at an early Thanksgiving celebration with the Deal family. Adam, Erin, and Tristan came from North Carolina to meet Eli and eat turkey with the family. Mom, the food was delicious and we all had a great time!

Meeting cousin Tristan for the first time. This is about as close as the cousins got all weekend. Don't worry, Tristan, we all still think you're super cute too!

Uncle Adam and his first nephew.

Aunt Erin enjoying some of her first aunt duties. She's also very good at changing diapers.

Aunt Rebekah.

A family photo at Eli's baptism on Sunday. We are so thankful to God for the precious gift of our son and the challenge of raising him to walk in the Lord's footsteps.

Check out Eli's tracking skills from last week. I love how he "winks" at the monkey every time he turns his head!

Can't Stop Taking Pictures

Eli's doing great! He's letting his mom and dad get some chunks of sleep at night. We're a little worried that he may get a little too used to the celebrity-like experiences he's had whenever he goes out. Eli's quite the popular little guy at church and out with our Oasis small group... also at home, where Mom's flashing camera must feel a little bit like the paparazzi! Enjoy the pics! Checking out the cool new stacker cousin Patty brought from her toy store. He likes to follow the pieces with his eyes and will turn his head when he hears the rattles. Such a smart baby!

This is the blanket that Cathy got for Eli. She was one of his nurses at the hospital and also goes to our church. She'll have fun watching Eli grow!

Starting to get a little sick of this particular photo session.

Soooo sleepy!

Too Cute to Pass Up

Eli sporting his overalls from his Aunt Rebekah. Isn't he handsome?

In his pea pod Halloween costume. He enjoyed it because it was nice and warm. Dad and Eli made it to two houses on our court. They made out with one pack of Smarties. (Those are Rockets for all of our Canadian readers.)

October 29, 2008

Sleeping like a champ after a few minutes out in the afternoon sunshine.

Aunt Andrea and cousins Geneva and Brooke made the trip to Midland this past Saturday to visit the newest addition to the family. Brooke was trying to use the potty when we arrived, but was so excited when we walked in the door that she couldn't even take time to pull up her pants!

Proud Aunt Andrea reported that Eli was getting plenty of kicks from his younger cousin during this shot.

Geneva is going to be a big help to her mommy when her new little brother or sister arrives. Eli loves his oldest cousin!

Grandpa Deal makes a quick stop after work to check up on his youngest grandson. It looks like Eli's winking at him!

Grandma Deal gets a snuggle in.

Outside after Eli's first tour of the neighborhood. It's been pretty brisk weather since he's arrived, but we keep him pretty bundled up.

A Mulder family photo op during Eli's first official big outing. We had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Deal's on Friday night. (We followed that up with dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Mulder's on Saturday... everyone wants to make sure we're eating well!)

Eli bundled for a walk outside. We think he looks like a starfish!

Snuggled up after his first bath. He actually seemed to enjoy the warm water.

Eli's great grandparents--Papo and Nana--made a special trip from Indiana to meet the little guy before they left for a few months in sunny Florida. Notice Eli's fire engine outfit in honor of Papo's one time career.

That's all for now. This new momma's got to go snuggle with her precious little bundle!