Halloween night (2-yr-old crisis with a happy ending!)

So, here it is, Halloween night. The one night of the year when parents can dress their children up in all sorts of C-U-T-E outfits and take lots of pictures of them, and in return, the children get lots and lots of candy. Not our (oldest) child - not this year. We had an absolutely adorable bumble bee costume for him to wear, but we only got as far as the black undershirt and pants before he had a category 5 meltdown! SO, we went to plan B, which was the all-black outfit plus his favorite camo hat and sandals (also the result of the afore-mentioned meltdown) and Voila: a southern ninja! Ah, well - we can't win 'em all! (At least we can still dress Eli up in super-cute outfits: see his baby-pumpkin look complete with a hat!)

Oh, and Isaac did end up having a GREAT time at Trunk-or-Treat at our church...so it was a happy ending!

The infamous "Bumble-bee meltdown of 2009"

Mommy, why are you doing this to me!?!?!?

The complete "Southern Ninja" look: head-to-toe black, a camo hat, and sandals!

Daddy put a label on his back so people would know what his costume was!

Listening to the story of Ezekiel and the Valley of the Dry Bones with Daddy

Eli slept throughout the party...

Sweet little pumpkin!

Happy Halloween, everyone!!

Halloween party at Mothers' Morning Out

Isaac's Mothers' Morning Out had a Halloween party on Friday - he went as Tigger, though he didn't wear the costume for very long...

T-I-double G-R

Yum, yum - cupcakes!

Eli got to crash big brother's party (though he slept the whole time)!

Mom made cupcakes for the party and had some extra batter, so this was the result!
Happy Halloween!

An attempt at a family self-portrait

On a pretty day last week, we attempted to get a family portrait - and discovered why there is a saying in the photography industry about working with small children and animals (it goes something like this: "Don't do it.") We took several, but here are just a few that were best and/or funniest!

Lucy is thinking, "I really want to lick Eli's toes!"

And so she does!

Peek-a-boo!

Isaac has found a new favorite place to hide - under Eli's bassinet!

Peek-a-boo!

Halloween party

On Saturday, Isaac and Dad had a special outing to a Halloween party at a friend's farm. They had a cookout, a hayride, and trick-or-treating. Isaac was very excited about all the candy, and asks for his "kunkin" (full of candy) a lot!

Eli's first checkup

At 5 days old, Eli went to Dr. Hayek for his first checkup. Everything checked out great, and he had gained his birth weight, plus an ounce!

A video of the brothers' first meeting...

Brothers meet

Isaac has been excited about his "baby brodder" for a while, and he has been so sweet to Eli ever since we got home and introduced them.

Giving kisses

Proud big brother!

Counting baby brother's "little piggies"!

We'll try to get a video up soon...

Announcing: Eli Caedmon Hill!!

This morning, at 9:23am, Eli Caedmon Hill made his grand entrance into the world. He weighed 8 lbs 10 oz, and was 21 inches long.

Happy Birthday, Eli!


Just a few minutes old

He likes to tuck his hands up under his chin

Mom and baby

Peaceful dreams, sweet boy!

A Baby Shower for Eli

For all of you who are worried that we won't take as many pictures of Eli as we have of Isaac, here are some pics of the baby shower that our church gave us.
(We're really trying!)

Grandma and Grammie were both able to be in town for this shower (it's a long story), and it was great to have them here!

(Eli's) Mom and Grammie

Mom, Grammie and Eli

Opening presents (this pic shows off the ring that Garin got me for having such a tough couple of weeks!)

When will Eli get here? Who knows!!

Baby booties cake

These past few weeks have been pretty miserable - I (Rachel) have been in the hospital twice with kidney stones, not to mention being 8.5 months pregnant and exhausted all the time. HOWEVER, we have amazing friends and family who have jumped in to help. Garin's parents were here over the weekend (on 2 hours notice), and my mom came for the week. The following are pictures from Isaac's impromptu sleepover with some friends from church last Thursday evening - he had a GREAT time and didn't seem to miss Mom and Dad at all!

Matt and Isaac (Matt is 3yrs old)

The kids had a "flashlight scavenger hunt."

Isaac, "Papa Al", and Matt

Singing "Pharoah, Pharoah" sent both Isaac and Al into fits!

Isaac and Papa Al

Matthew, Jacob, and Isaac - like brothers from another mother!

Thanks for taking such good care of our boy!!!

Photo shoot...

A friend from church took some pictures of us (204 pictures, to be exact!) on the campus of Gardner-Webb University, which is nearby. Here are a just a few of those: