becoming six: oh so much

*disclaimer: below is a loooonnnng post with pictures every so often so proceed with caution.

Goodness there is just so much I want to share with you, that i wish we were face to face rather than me typing this out. BUT since we aren't i will try and make the best of it.

daniel reading to eli

Our world has changed since the big move in that we have our own place now, we live in a big/new city where we pretty much know not a soul, daniel is studying all the time because seminary is demanding, eli man is becoming such a fun little guy to be around (not that he wasn't before but even more fun...if that's possible), madie lounges around all day occasionally moving to see what we are up to and i spend lots of my time making baby food, baking, couponing, cleaning, laundry, reading & spending time with other moms that have husbands in seminary. life right now is fun :) i am not going to sit here and say every day is just peachy, but i am learning to love where God has us at this moment.

look i can stand :)

we found a church we will most likely settle in. last week was our first visit and it didn't take us long to know that this is where we can get involved with others our age. its a small, quaint church with solid preaching (well we have only heard one weeks worth) and seems like a great community. we look forward to getting to know the church. in fact this sunday they are having a super bowl party that we will attend which hopefully can open some doors for us.

DANIEL:

daniel is getting back into his groove with school. being out for 4 years and then diving back in takes sometime to adjust but he is handling it well. he comes home excited to tell me about what he is learning. I know all of this is just preparing us for the field one day (Lord willing). even though he only has class 2 days a week (still 14 hours of classes this semester) he spends his other days reading, studying and writing papers. the Lord has blessed daniel with the ability to excels in school and i know he will do great!!
we praise God for the opportunity for him to be in school right now. honestly i never thought it would be possible (financially) but ME of little faith. we do feel blessed!

daddy & eli

ELI

eli will be 5 months tomorrow...okay where has the time gone? daniel and I chat often about what life was like before eli and honestly we can't remember. he has brought us so much joy words don't even do it justice!
he has begun to sit up but not fully on his own. mommy or daddy need to be there to spot him so he doesn't bump his head on the ground.
he smiles when he sees us which is so sweet.
eli is currently eating oatmeal, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes & peas. we will be introducing green beans in a few days. he actually likes peas (he must not be my son because i despises them!). he's not a big fan of squash (which i like :)).
eli loves his bouncer. we put him in there and he jumps as high as he can over and over and over.
he loves rolling all around on the ground. the other day daniel put him on his tummy to play and had to walk out of the room for a min. i walked in the room and noticed he was a little off his blanket. hmmm i thought. he hasn't ever done that before. so i put him back on and notice that he has figured out how to push backwards with his hands. i wouldn't call that crawling, but i'm sure he will be there sooner than we know.
eli thinks madie is funny. not really sure why but when he sees her he laughs...it's really cute!

Eli 5 months old

MADIE

madie celebrated her 3rd birthday yesterday. i made homemade sugar cookies and gave her 3 (they were small). i topped them with a couple m&m's. lets just say she LOVED it!
she either spends her days following daniel or myself around in the house or just being lazy. right now as i type this she is sleeping on the floor in the sun. the sun doesn't shine much in our condo, but she never fails at finding that spot where it does.
madie has also learned to go to the potty REALLY fast which is great for all of us. it's 5 degrees outside today! she just goes right out and does her business and then comes straight back in.

madie's birthday

I guess this is the part where i talk about myself. Let's see. i have gotten on this baking kick (as i posted last time). I have begun making things from scratch because in the long run it's cheaper. I made 8 loaves of whole wheat bread that are stacked neatly in our freezer. when we desire some of that luscious bread, all we have to do is take it out and cook for 20 minutes. it easy, cheap, & healthy. I also have lots of homemade cookie dough stored up for when we want a little snack. I have really made an effort (or at least trying) to find ways to cut back on our spending. I make eli's baby food, put it in ice cube trays, freeze it and then dump them into freezer safe baggies for when we need them. so so so much cheaper than buying the very much over priced jars of baby food in the stores. here is a much detailed version of what i do.

another thing i have done to save a whole bunch of money is get serious about couponing. before i would clip a coupon here and there and save a few extra dollars which is great, but i have now REALLY saved us some $$ by following others who basically do it for a living. here is an example i was telling a friend about that i purchased 2 weeks ago:

total cost of everything above: $88.72

what i paid after coupons & ecb's: $14.65

(that's a savings of $74.07) not to mention this is enough toilet paper to last us almost a whole year!

I have many more to share but that is to come.

I have joined a bible study for the wives of seminary students which is so refreshing. it is nice to dig into the word with other ladies. not only that, i have also gotten involved in a playdate that meets with other babies and their mommies. God is good and providing for all our needs. so i guess that is about it for now. below i have posted some VERY random pictures that have been on our other camera for a while and i just loaded them to the computer.