Sick, Sick, Sick

Things have been kind of hard around here, lately.  I have been sick for a while, with weird symptoms.  But, I went home to Missouri to see a naturopathic-type doctor?  I will be writing about it on my other blog later.  I am already feeling better, but I have a cold that has been hanging on for a few weeks.  While we were gone, Eli was preparing for his first big test of the second year.  He was really stressed out, he was kind of behind because he spent so much time taking care of Caroline and me when we were sick.  I knew that he would do well on it though.  Heavenly Father blesses those who have their priorities right. And Eli always puts his family and the Lord first, above school.  Needless to say, he did very well on his test.  He got above average on all of them.  But, while he was studying his brains out with the cold he always gets during his test weeks.   After his test, as we were driving home from Missouri, he went to the urgent care clinic.  Turns out, he had pneumonia!  Can you believe it!  The poor guy!  He is doing better, and over the worst part of it.  He is still resting a lot.  Yesterday though, my cold was really bad, Eli was still feeling bad too.  Luckily Caroline has not caught anything yet!  But, she was really whiny yesterday and wanted me to hold her all day.  I just wanted to lay down, and Eli didn't have the energy to take care of her either.  After lunch she perked up though.  But, yesterday was just one of those days where there were tears for both me and Caroline, and I really wished that we had some family around.  Of course we always miss our family, but yesterday I really wanted someone to just come and take care of us.  We didn't want to call anyone from church and spread our germs.  The good news is that we slept well last night.  We are all feeling better today though.  Eli had to go to some school stuff today and that made him really tired.  He's napping right now.  So is Caroline.  I feel so much better and things are looking up.  I forgot to take pictures of our Missouri trip.  And I'll blog about it more later.  In the meantime, here are some pictures. 

My friend Ify came over with her two kids, here they all are looking at the train from our kitchen window.   So cute!

Watching videos with daddy

Playing in her closet

Playing in the puddles after it rains is her favorite thing!

Don't you love her rain coat?  Thanks Grandma Rhoads!

Just lounging in the doll stroller watching a movie.  Laid back.

Eli's Birthday

Eli turned 27 this year!  It was a low key day, but very nice.  We were planning on going to the zoo for the morning, but it got rained out.  So, we spent a relaxing day at home.  Then, in the afternoon we went with our friends Emily and Kyle to eat at Eli's favorite burger place in Louisville, Bunz.


Here are some pictures from that night.

We got there a  little early before Emily and Kyle.  We were waiting by these nice apartment buildings.  Caroline loved hanging out on the sidewalk.  She loves being out on the town.  I loved here little outfit.  The pretty pink shirt is from a consignment store, skinny jeans from walmart, and shoes from Payless.  She was being so cute and happy.

The Birthday Boy!

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Emily and Kyle

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Rhoads Family Portraits, 2012

Eli's Dad and Step-Mom set up family pictures while we were in Utah this summer.  I was excited because I haven't been in any family pictures yet.  Now they are stuck with me.  I'm in the pictures!  Haha!  Karen did a great job.  She picked out all of the outfits herself.  Not a small feat with that many people.  It was the most painless picture taking experience I've ever had, even with all those kids.  It was great!  Thanks for the pictures! By the way, the pictures were taken at the state hospital in Provo.  It was so pretty there. 

Eli's dad calls this one "Mormon Family circa 1847"

This is Eli's sister Kim, her husband Rory, and their kids Rustin, Tori, and Quincy.

The Rhoads grandkids, Makenna, Rustin, Tori, Caroline, and Quincy.

The girls

The whole clan: Back from left, Gabe, Josh, Elle Mae (the dog), and Derek.  

Second row from left: Lisa, Makenna, Gary, Karen, Quincy, Cherie, Caroline, and Eli. 

Third Row from left: Kim, Rustin, Tori, and Rory

Caroline Update: 17 months

Caroline is now 17 months old.  She is not a baby at all, she is a full -fledged, tantrum throwing, running, climbing, and jumping toddler.  We love havinger her around.  She is a lot of fun and is learning new things everyday.  She is super smart and so funny.  Eli did a funny, evil scientist laugh one time which she found hilarious.  Now when she laughs, it's an evil maniacal laugh.  Here are some updates about her.  

She now sits in a forward facing carseat.  I had the infant one in the living room for a couple days so I could wash it before putting it in storage.  Caroline thought it was her own little chair.  Anytime she would have a snack she would go and sit in that carseat.  Like her own little laz-z-baby recliner.

 

 

 

She is old enough now and plays by herself well enough for me to feel comfortable to take a shower while she's awake.  The other day I found this after I got out of the shower.

 

 

She also had a post-it stuck to her back.  I have no idea ho she did that.

 

 

She is so cute too.  I can finally pull all her hair back!  It's so cute.  Well, I can only pull it back in a ponytail if its all wet and I have to use some hair clips too.  But, I can also do pigtails now too, which are adorable.  My mom found this dress for her at a thrift store, I love it, it's so cute!

 

 

She is just so cute and kissable!
She can also talk a lot now.  Some of her new words are "animal, smoothie, yellow, duck, no (her personal favorite), mine, apple, book, pool, car, truck, train, bath, cookie, cracker, cheese, super banana, and temple."  She can climb up on the furniture now.  She can also jump, with her feet all the way off the floor.  She still loves to eat, but is getting pickier about what she'll eat.  She loves to swim, or do anything in the water.  She will run just about anywhere she can.  She is also liking to bring her babydoll with her everywhere we go.  She even tries to feed her and play with her.  She loves to play with her daddy and read books with us.  She is still very good at going to bed and sleeps about 12-14 hours a night.  She is getting more of a personality, and she is a firecracker.  Her favorite thing to say is, "no, no, no, no, no, no!" but she says it in such a cute voice.  She is just getting to be so much fun.  We love having her around!