Halloween Fun! The Frog Prince and the Princess! Elijah is walking everywhere now! He is FAST too! He is a sweet boy and LOVES his big sister! Mattie is loving preschool and is very EXCITED about Christmas! She is learning to sing "Away in the Manger" and loves the Christmas CD in the car.

We recently took a family photo for our church directory. Matt's friend from work, Kimberly, and her husband, Jarrod, met us at Berry for a little photo shoot. Somehow they were able to capture a shot of everyone smiling! They also took some more beautiful pictures of the kids! We loved so many of them it was very hard not to buy them all! I only have this one saved to my computer, but ask me and I would love to show off the other pictures! Check out Kim and Jarrod's webpage! They work very well together and our kids loved working with them!http://www.timeandagainphotographyga.com/

Birthday Fun! We had a wonderful first birthday celebration for Elijah! What a year it has been! We have had some medical issues to overcome for Elijah and Mama this year which made it a challenging first year, but we are doing great now! We are so proud of Elijah! We love him so much and are so thankful for him! What a blessing our children are to us! God is good! I love my family and am so very thankful to God for my wonderful life! Thanks to Aunt Carolene for coming early to help me prepare for the party! Matt, Carolene, and I made a great team and the party was so much fun! Elmo made an appearance and Hannah LOVED him! My kids on the other hand ran in the opposite direction!

Both the kids are sleeping so I thought it was time to update the blog. It has been a busy summer at the Middleton house! This kids are keeping Matt and I very busy! We love having Daddy home for dinner every night now that he is working day shift. Mama LOVES the help!
Elijah is cruising on furniture and beginning to stand for short periods of time on his own. He loves to hold our fingers and walk around the house. He laughs at his big sister all of the time and wants to crawl after her where ever she goes! He says mam, dog, cat, car, and woof. He also does some baby sign language. (more, eat, milk, and all done). He can say dada but would rather call Matt mama. However, Elijah is a daddy's boy from the minute daddy walks through the door! Elijah is a very picky eater! He has some texture issues as well, but we are starting to figure out what he does like!
Mattie is going to preschool and she loves it! Her school time allows Mama and Elijah to go to Kindermusik and have some one on one time together! Mattie tells me she eats and plays at school. She did tell me a story about going to time out last week. The teachers did not tell me she told on herself! Kinda cute. She was throwing the mulch on the playgroud so it could have been worse! We are also doing school at home on the days she does not go to preschool. She knows that when Elijah goes to his first nap time we get the school items out and have some fun! Mattie still LOVES to read so we check out library books weekly! Recently Mattie was a flower girl at her cousin's wedding. She did a great job! She did so good that she even threw more flowers down the isle on her way OUT of the church. She was too cute as you could all imagine!
We recently went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Hilton Head. The kids loved them both! They enjoyed some time at the beach. They loved the sand but not the ocean! I will post those pictures soon.
We are excited about the fall! Mattie is going to be a "Pink Princess" and Elijah is going to be a frog Prince for Halloween. We hope to avoid all unsafe candy as I will be carrying my own stash when we go show off our costumes! Mattie is so excited! We are also excited about Elijah's first birthday! What a first year it has been! He has had many health issue hurdles, but with a great pediatrician's office and prayers we have made it thru it all! Look for more updates soon!

Please look at the new link I added on the top right hand side of the web page titled Lauren's Hope. Mattie has a medical alert bracelet from this company. They create beautiful items if you know anyone who could benefit from wearing a medical alert bracelet please pass this webpage along! Thanks!

Elijah and Mattie are growing so fast! We are having a fun summer getting out with the kids. Mattie loves to swim, but gets a little scared at times. Elijah loves to relax in his float and kick his feet! We recently took them to the Tennessee Aquarium and the Clock Tower in Rome. They both loved these outings! Mattie is obsessed with the Clock Tower! She was so excited to "touch it" and see it up close! Elijah is our BIG BOY! He just had his 9 month check up and is 21lbs9oz and 30 1/4inches. He army crawls everywhere and loves to be chased down the hall! We are helping him learn to pull up to standing as the doctors said he should be doing this by now. My little man is just so laid back, so we know he will meet this milestone with a little help and at his own time. Matt and I were able to take Mattie and Elijah to Kindermusik class this summer. Elijah learned to clap, wave, and pat while in the class! He is so cute and gets so excited and proud of himself! Mattie has enjoyed the summer reading program! She loves to check out new books weekly! I am excited that Mattie is pretty much potty trained except at night and during nap. She is successfully taking naps a few days a week now! YAY! This also makes me very happy! She understands that if she naps she can stay up late and play so this is working for us at the moment! Mattie loves to talk and learn new things daily! She keeps me on my toes as she asks me "what's that mama?" all of the time! Mattie and Elijah stayed with Aunt Carolene and Nana for a week this summer. The cutest thing is that Mattie says daily "Mama, you look like a Carolene" Now, daddy looks like Brandon and Elijah looks like Hannah....it's interesting and funny how a 2 year old thinks! I love hearing Mattie talk! She hears everything and is repeating my phrases. Her favorites are "Honey and oh my goodness!" I didn't even realize I called her honey. She is too funny! Enjoy our summer pictures!

More Pictures....Elijah gives kisses and Mattie loved chocolate covered Strawberries!

Mattie and Elijah are growing up so fast! Elijah is rolling around to get from one toy to another! He is sitting up very well and loves to smile and laugh! Elijah loves to laugh at Mattie especially! She barely tickles him and he just laughs and laughs! He is such a sweet and loving boy! He gives kisses and loves to be held! Mattie is potty training! The past week she has done awesome! She did great at Aunt Carolene's house. She is dry all night, but we are still using pull ups just in case! We are so proud of Mattie! She loves art! She loves to paint and asks to do this daily! Mattie is a wonderful big sister! We feel so blessed to have these two wonderful children!
Keep us in your prayers this month. At the end of the month we will be traveling to Antigua for Uncle Mark and Aunt Heather's wedding. Mattie and Elijah will be with Aunt Carolene and Nana! I am slightly anxious about leaving them behind, but the trip will be great for Matt and I! The kids will be well taken care of, I am just not used to being separated from the babies!

Elijah was baptized May 2nd. We were not able to get any pictures during the event. He did very well and enjoyed his special moment! I had to post Uncle Mark with Elijah....We are told Elijah is a little version of Uncle Mark. Really, if you could see Mark's baby pictures they really favor!

We are so excited to be able to take the kids places now that Elijah is bigger! We all enjoyed picking strawberries this past weekend. Elijah and Mattie went swimming last week and enjoyed the water!
Elijah is sitting up on his own and rolls around to get toys. We are still introducing new foods to Elijah. He was very slow to swallowing baby food, but is doing much better now! Elijah LOVES Mattie. She hugs him and can make him giggle! He loves to watch her every move! Elijah loves to nap! He gets very grumpy if he misses a nap or is hungry. He has a laid back personality like his Daddy! Elijah is always smiling until you get a camera out then he gives this "look" like what are you doing?
Mattie is potty training and doing well! She has occasional accidents when she wants to play instead of potty. She can hold her "teetee" and I think she waits too long and makes a little accident then runs to the potty to finish. I make her potty frequently, but she is still learning how to stop playing on her own and go before it is too late! I guess this is why potty training takes a while! Mama gets nervous when we are running errands about accidents, but that's understandable. Mattie talks all of the time! She has some stories memorized and we love to hear her "read" to us!
We feel very blessed to have two wonderful and very different children! They both can make us laugh so hard and bring much happiness to our lives! We have those rough days of course, but feel so thankful that God has given us this opportunity to parent two wonderful little ones!