Long Weekend in Tennessee

Last weekend we took advantage of Malachi's day off school on Monday and made a trip to visit Yaya and 'Buelo in Tennessee. I didn't do a great job of documenting our trip with pictures, but we all had a great time together. We had beautiful weather on Saturday morning and the boys played outside a bit and even went down to check out the lake.

On Saturday afternoon we headed over to Milligan College to watch a basketball game - Elliott couldn't have been happier!
It rained all day on Sunday which made it a perfect lazy afternoon for naps - for everyone but Malachi who can't seem to slow down long enough to fall asleep during the day! We spent the rest of the afternoon playing and hanging out. Malachi also got to do a couple of science experiments about weather, such as "tornado in a bottle."

We had a great time visiting and can't wait to be with Yaya and 'Buelo again soon!

Run!

Erik's most recent running accomplishment took place a couple weekends ago just outside Columbus at the Granville Winter Run, a 15 mile race. He finished in 1:35:51, taking fourth place overall! Go Erik!

Erik's protege, Daniel, went along for the race and WON it ALL! He finished in 1:29:01, setting a new course record. Erik has spent a lot of time running with and mentoring Daniel over the past two years. Last week there was a ceremony at Paint Valley for Daniel to officially sign to run cross country and track at Lipscomb University, a small Division 1 school in Nashville, TN.

We're excited for Daniel and very proud of his hard work. Check out the nice article about him here.

Talent

It was politely pointed out to me that I've been slacking over here, so I thought I should spend some time catching up this evening! I need to get a few more pictures together before I can post some exciting updates on our lives, but in the meantime I thought I would share this sweet picture of my littlest guy.

I am SO lucky to be surrounded by many talented women in my life, two of whom are represented in this photo: my sister, Kelsey, and my mom. I called Kelsey last week requesting a photo shoot to capture Jonas' gummy grin before any teeth pop through and ruin it and this is just one of the awesome shots she was able to get. In this picture Jonas is modeling the cutest creation to date knit by GranMols. Mom is getting more and more talented with her knitting and this is just one of her projects that is getting rave reviews wherever we go. It was even described by one of my friends as, "one of the Molly Lloyd most coveted hats in the history of babydom."

Malachi's Car

The Erector Set was a great gift. Malachi has always loved building things, and he especially loves this toy because it has a working motor. I think it's great because it's really too old for Malachi so Erik has to help him with it. They had a lot of father-son bonding time over the three or four evenings it took to build this car!

The Little Things

Jonas loved watching his big brothers play after finishing their snacks the other night:

4 Months

Now that Jonas is 4 1/2 months old, I figured I should catch up and post his 4 month stats! At his doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago he weighed in at 14 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 25.75 inches long. He had three shots that day and handled them like a champ - only crying for a few seconds! He's obviously growing well (Grandma Jane even told me I must be a really "good cow" since he's getting so big!) and doing great. He's had a little cold recently, but that hasn't affected his smiles or giggles. He's teased me a few times by sleeping through the night, only to wake up every 2-3 hours the next. He definitely doesn't sleep as well as Elliott did, but I really can't complain too much because even when he wakes he goes back to sleep immediately after nursing. We're trying to get on a predictable schedule and are planning on starting cereal in the next week or two. He's growing and changing fast and I'm savoring every moment!

Newport Aquarium

A few weeks ago Yaya and 'Buelo came up to visit for a couple days. The highlight of our time together was our trip to the Newport Aquarium. Elliott had never been to an aquarium and Malachi hadn't been since he was three so he didn't remember much. I'm pretty sure both boys loved it, even though Elliott kept saying, "scare me!"

I love the expressions in this one: