Family Photo

We decided that since we had two new babies born that we needed to get Uncle Jeron a new family picture. Breanna is very excited to have two new nephews. In the picture below, she is singing "I am a Child of God" to Eli. Thanks to Grandma Sibyl for holding his head steady.

Tummy Sleeper

Eli won't sleep, no matter what.  Jared is wonderful to take him to sleep, but his wiggles are too much sometimes.  Fortuneately, we discovered that he sleeps long hours on his tummy.  We were so scared because our doctor strongly cautioned us not to put him on his tummy.  We even woke up in the middle of the night and checked on him.  Finally, Jared and I decided that we lived with him and we would put him on his tummy so we could finally get some sleep.

Six Weeks Already!

Eli is already seven weeks old, my has the time flown by. He can now recognize his mom and dad and he is full of smiles; usually at 4 a.m. When Eli was only three weeks old, he could identify Daddy’s voice. One day, Daddy came home from classes when I was talking upstairs with Grandma M. Eli heard his Daddy’s voice and he started fussing to be held by his Daddy.
My love for Eli grows stronger every day. At about six weeks, I went upstairs to visit with Grandma and couldn’t find her. We sat down in a rocking chair and I sang him primary songs. He looked at me so intently as I was singing “I’m trying to be like Jesus.” I felt the spirit whisper to me “It is your responsibility to teach this little one about Jesus.” I realized at that point how important motherhood is. When I finished the song, he smiled at me.
Eli Loves his Daddy. It’s no wonder because when he was about two weeks old, Daddy saved his life. I was upstairs in G&G taking a bath and Daddy took Eli upstairs to nurse. When he was finished, Daddy went downstairs and slipped on the stairs. Daddy didn’t try to catch his fall at all because he was holding Eli; he just went straight down and took the brunt of the fall. Eli stayed asleep the entire time.
Eli loves his Mommy as well. At about five weeks, on a Sunday morning, Eli was sleeping with Daddy after a long night. I turned over in my sleep and Eli flashed a beautiful smile.

Intense Baby

Grandma loves the way Eli looks at her.  He is so focused and intense.  He has always been intense, even at birth.  He came out that way and from the minute he looked at me, I knew he was real and he was mine.  I am intense too, that must be why.

Eli's First Smile.

This is Eli's first smile. I am glad that I could get it on camera. The unfortunate thing is that he has purple lips from a medicine to prevent thrush. He is still cute.

Look how Precious!

This Christmas Carrie and Matthew came all the way from Ohio. They were able to see Joe and Eli for the first time. Makenzie was so curious at the little babies. Since Joe just came from NICU and Courtney didn't want to expose him to anything, I encouraged her to look at Eli. She couldn't keep her eyes off him.

So Little!

Even though Eli is only five days old, he has brought so much joy to his parents. His father, Jared, had a difficult time deciding what career path to take. At first it was law school or business school and a week before law school applications were due, he decided that was not the path to take. He didn’t decide on a career path until he found out that Jenifer was pregnant.
During much of the pregnancy, there was the usual anxiety that resides; such as how can we financially make this work, will I be a good parent, will my baby be healthy? One thing was for sure, Eli was sent from Heavenly Father to bless Jared and Jenifer’s lives so they can start their eternal family. As soon as Eli was born, Jared remarked that the world was a much softer place. He would come home and see Jenifer nursing and his face would lighten up and we would know that our lives were full of purpose.