Can it really only be 1 week til Eli is ONE?!?!

I can't believe it. In one week my precious, tiny, amazing little boy will be one year old. His first birthday part is this Sunday and we've invited all of our family and friends to come celebrate with us. Eli has done some amazing things lately. First he took a few steps the other day! I couldn't believe it. My dad was kneeling down on the floor and Eli let go of the coffee table and took two steps to Papa! I tried to catch it on video but the video isnt very good, you can see it here. He also has two new teeth coming in, the top two in the middle. We've had a few rough nights because of it. I remember now why we stopped co sleeping a few months ago. I brought him to bed with me the other night because he was screaming and screaming, and I felt bad because he kept waking up screaming so I just brought him into my bed. He laid down and nursed for a long time and then as soon as I thought he was dozing off he started crawling all over the bed and giving me kisses and laying his head down. He crawled up on Geoff's pillow and laid down. Then he got up, then he laid down, up down up down. Finally I had to carry him to his bed and lay him down, and he settled right down and went to sleep!! Like I said, it reminded me why we stopped cosleeping :o)

Eli is getting his first haircut tonight too, so he can be soooo handsome for his first birthday party. We're also getting his pictures taken on Friday. We've never had professional pictures taken of him, so I am pretty excited to get them done. 

On the mama and dada front, we're both doing good. Its harder in some ways than I thought it would be to be away from my husband and easier in some ways too. Most days we're both so busy we dont have time to miss one another. I spend 10-12 hours a week at my practicum school in addition to the four classes I am taking and tutoring. Lesson planning, laundry, reading for class, grocery shopping and of course spending time with my baby boy. Thats my day. Geoff's day isn't much different except he spends 38 hours a week at work, not counting driving back and forth from Greeley to Fort Collins 2x a day so he can go to the two classes he's taking this semester plus labs. His lab time has been intense and I think he's doing well this semester in spite of everything. Otherwise his day is the same, school, chores, homework, work-work. We try and squeeze in phone conversations through out the day but even that is difficult. At night we both have so much homework to do its counter productive to work on homework. ah well, its all for a good cause and I can't even begin to describe how much I love being in the class room! I am doing my practicum observation in a 4th grade classroom at Monument Academy this semester and I love my class. Its amazing to see how many different types of kids there are and see how many different levels of abilities there are. I am going to miss them in December! 

Well, I need to go buy stuff to make my boys birthday cake! I can't believe he's already almost 1!!

Here he is at 11 months