christy nockels and other thoughts

two words: christy nockels. i seriously can't get enough of her. first of all, her voice is so BEAUTIFUL. second of all, it's interesting--unique. thirdly--and this is the part that most refreshes my soul--she focuses on Jesus--simply and wholly. i love this. she takes me back to the simplicity of who God is: holy and yet MINE. oh, how i'm thankful for artists like this. anyway, check her out if you're so inclined. in other news, i'm REALLY sorry it's been sooo long since my last post. truly, even in to the 2nd trimester of this pregnancy, things were difficult. when nausea persists, day after day, i start to get down and lose sight of the temporal nature of it all. needless to say, i'm soooo thankful to be done w/ that part of the baby's development. now we're on to some crazy fatigue, but i'll take that ANY DAY over the former. i'm grateful, too, for the one looong nap that elliot takes every day, and nothing--"neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this [woman]" from her nap--not unlike the postal service's commitment to the mail. as for elliot, brent and i just can't get enough of him. he's hilarious. seriously--and he hasn't even really started talking yet....but maybe that's part of what's so funny....his grunts and "alternative language" skills are so much fun. i will say that he IS at least TRYING to talk more--and by that i've noticed that he's getting away more from his baby sign language and more into different....shall we call them....enunciations....=) he's turning into quite the cuddler to brent's and my joy, and he LOVES food almost as much as he loves daddy. seriously, cookies cure everything. as for brent, he'll finish up his MA in biblical leadership from phoenix, seminary in december and elliot and i can't WAIT. we miss him!! he's doing such a beautiful job though; he continues to earn such high grades while he's the best youth pastor i know. he's also spending any extra time he has helping his dad build an addition to our home. whew! all of this before baby boy #2 arrives in january. what a trooper that man of mine is. i just love him so much, and i'm infinitely grateful for him. anyway, speaking of my man, he has a cold and so he hit the hay early tonight. please pray he's better soon; w/ so much on his plate, even a cold can feel frustrating. i better join his sleeping self now and cuddle up to him--unbeknownst to him, of course. =) thank you to those of you who think of us and love us and pray for us. you're dear to us!! sending love to each of you.

to iowa and back

what a lovely trip elliot and i had to visit my family in iowa. we were sad to go w/o daddy, but he needed to be home to finish up his summer classes at phoenix seminary. we miss him when he's not w/ us! mommy may have also been a little bit sad b/c this meant she had to travel w/ elliot on her lap for 3 hours during the nonstop trip to iowa.....but God was gracious. my nausea truly ended THAT MORNING and then continued to be SO manageable during our entire visit. what a relief! my parents had been praying....hard--they're the BEST at that.

they're also the best at entertaining elliot. he ADORES both of them, and it's so special for me to see them interact. they sing together and play and tickle and have so much fun w/ our little man. we only wish we were able to see them more. =( the 3 of us will look forward to a trip from baubie, though, in october and then a trip from poppa some other time this fall! (they like to spread out the love so i don't miss them too much). what great parents--and grandparents--they are.

anyway, here are a few pix from our trip taken by uncle davey. we had to say goodbye to him and aunt breeann b/c in just a few days they'll fly away to south korea to teach english. they'll do BEAUTIFULLY but we will miss them SO MUCH. thanks for driving to cedar falls to spend time w/ us, davey and breeann! brent, elliot and i love you tons, and we'll pray that Jesus will make himself known to you and others while you're away!

a musician in the making?

the other day, i found elliot knocking on the door of the guest room where we keep our keyboard. he'd never knocked on this door b/f, and so i thought it was funny, but i was pretty sure what he wanted to do....and i was right. i opened the door and then he "asked" to be hoisted up on the bench so he could "play." ahh....music to my ears. he even gave me this cheesey smile so i could always remember this moment. =)

a few of elliot's loves--new and old.....

1) bubble baths (see pic)
2) string cheese
3) daddy
4) daddy
5) daddy
6) dog food (this love is less fortunate)
7) remote controls
8) seeing baubie and papa on the google video chat (he always tries to impress them by dancing)
9) playing at nana and papa's house (they have more remotes than we do)
10) drinking out of mommy and daddy's BIG cups
11) feeding himself (this means holding a spoon w/ one hand and shoveling a fistful of food--including the fist--into his mouth)
12) goldfish (the snack, thankfully)
13) dancing spontaneously when what he deems a good song comes on the tv or pandora
14) giving tight hugs (we love this; daddy will say "tighter! tighter!")
15) swimming in the pool
16) going to the grocery store to ppl watch
17) sitting at his chair in the kitchen (b/c this means food)
18) reading (who cares if the book is upside down?)
19) going to the nursery at church and--you guessed it--eating
20) ....and last but CERTAINLY not least, his paci (as a side note, if he manages to bring one to the table, he has a difficult time deciding b/t the paci and food and often rotates)

poser

yes, folks, elliot has learned the fine art of posing for a picture during my parents' recent trip to az (which was soooo special--pictures to come). every time i see it, it cracks me up. i just picture me saying, "ready? 1....2.....3!" and elliot holding his smile the whole time until the camera flashes. hilarious. i had no idea he knew how to do this. love this boy.

a new chapter: family bike rides

growing up in cedar falls, one of my favorite family memories is bike riding. david and i like to laugh now about the particular ways my parents had of doing things. for example, my dad ALWAYS led the line, followed by my brother, then me, then my mom who ALWAYS brought up the rear. funny. well, brent and i started our own family tradition of bike riding. we inherited one bike from a friend and former neighbor when she moved away, and then the 2nd bike we bought from our brother-in-law. brent spearheaded the whole thing, attaching the carrier to his own bike and taking us all to target to buy helmets. below is a picture of elliot trying one on.



elliot LOVES riding in the back of daddy's bike (this is no surprise, though, as the kid loves fast moving things and doing anything, i repeat ANYTHING w/ daddy). unfortunately, the summer is approaching quickly and this means temperatures not meant for family rides....but alas.....a few more months from now and we'll be doing it again.

i'm so thankful for these times. i get a little sad just thinking of the brevity of childhood and how long we'll have elliot under our roof. we do love him so. but for now, we'll enjoy our little man and hold him closely. =)

GAH-EESH!

what in the world does that mean?--you might be asking....it's "daddy," of course, in elliot language. brent and i have been laughing about it the last couple days to each other. i like to repeatedly call out "GAH-EESH! GAH-EESH" just like elliot. he does it so seriously, too. it's just more than we can handle. we think he might be a little middle-eastern, too, given his interpretation of daddy. brent and i have our fingers crossed that i will be "MA-MEESH!"

what elliot does when you ask him where his nose is.....

i'm so behind on this thing, it's embarrassing....well, first of all, i sort of feel like this is a conversation b/t you and me, and all of a sudden i'm jumping into news about US...so rather than begin w/ US, how are YOU? =) please know that if you're reading this, you're dear to us. your notes are so special, and it means a lot to us that you'd want to hear about the klontz crew. finally, we LOVE you!

so with that said, here are a few updates on us: my mom celebrated a birthday....which one, i won't reveal....but it was BIG. =) to celebrate the women in my family got together in chicago for pedicures, manicures,starbucks, shopping, and finally a delicious dinner. i LOOOOOVED spending this time w/ my mom, aunt lana, aunt linda, my sister-in-law breeann, and my cousins samantha and jill. thanks for all the planning you did, ladies!! i love you!!! pix to come...

here's a video elliot clapping. yes, clapping. these are the things our lives consist of now.... brent and i can't get enough of it. =)




here's elliot w/ his baba. it's the first requested thing in the morning. love the baba.



well, that's all for now. i'll try and post soon though!!

elliot's first birthday party

what a fun time! we definitely had a houseful. people moved in and out of our tiny home for about 2 hours on superbowl sunday (who would have known so many people would be willing to come on such a big sports day?!) my friend renee made the cake--and what a cake it was.....AMAZING.....i'm seriously having to exercise some crazy self-control to not completely finish all of the leftovers in one sitting. not only was it DELICIOUS (mmm.....butter cream.....need i say more?) but it was adorable. renee designed the cake to be in the shape of a gigantic hat--cat in the hat style. thing 1 and thing 2 adorned the sides of the cake and then--my personal favorite--a little green eggs on the side. yay renee, and THANK YOU!!! any other dr. seussish decorations found in the home were shamelessly lifted from somewhere on the internet. idea #1:red and blue poms hung from the ceiling #2 seuss' _happy birthday to you_ book acted as the guest book (LOVE this idea. of course, again, not mine.) #3 a bunch of different seuss books propped up on platter holders (what's the real name for those things?) were a great way to decorate b/c i knew that we'd actually end up reading the books later on #3: bookmarks made from recycled seuss books (thank you, etsy) were in the party favor bags #4 thing 1 and thing 2 cupcakes sat on a cupcake display thing (again unsure of the official name). i loved their blue "hair," aka blue cotton candy.
we did give elliot maxwell his first plate of REAL junk food....birthday cake! well deserved after waiting one whole year....=) after we finally put him in his seat, he gingerly lifted up the plate, dumped the cake off of the plate and took of a bite of the plate. not exactly a man after my own heart, but perhaps he'll be healthier than mommy and daddy after all. =)
anyway, not only did brent's wonderful fam come but my wonderful parents came all the way from the fine state of iowa. i'm hoping to have a lot more pictures here soon, but for starters, here are a few. enjoy!

i dreamed of a white christmas....and that's what i got...yay!

here are a few pix from our time in snowy iowa w/ our precious family. oh how we love them.

uncle davey & elliot

aunt breeann and uncle davey w/ the little man

baubie and elliot

papa/poppi with elliot


in the hot tub on the deck while it snowed.....ah.....




elliot gesturing "soooo big!" in the sink getting a bath from baubie =)

at my parents' mantel....the scene for many family pictures =)


case in point.....=)