Blessed family

So I'm just thinking about how good Jesus Christ has been to Amanda, Elijah, and me.

Elijah is now 38 inches tall. We check his height on a height chart we got from Disneyworld. It tells what rides he can ride when he gets to a certain height. So he is only 2 inches from Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, I think Soarin' etc... We'll just have to see if it is something the Lord has for us?

The Lord has put it on our hearts to start considering adopting the end of next year again, or maybe the spring of 2011. Right now I think we are leaning towards a sister for Elijah. I think he is going to be a great brother. He might have his bad days now and then, but most of the time is very considerate and super caring. He will have so much fun with a sibling I believe. We'll see if the Lord puts Rwanda or Ethiopia on our hearts.

Just a quick blog on things I'm thinking of.

Dave

Great America!

A few weeks ago, my good friend, Lori invited Elijah and I to Six Flags Great America with her and Isabella for the day. We had so much fun and Elijah loved everything about it. Lord willing, we'll buy season tickets this weekend and be able to go again. He loved the Wiggles area... as you can see.

Anniversary Vacation!

We took this past weekend and got away for a few nights down in the burbs of Chicago. We had so much fun. We went swimming every day, to the Brookfield Zoo, parks, picnics and most importantly, we all went to church together (being one of three employees for the church, I am usually the first to arrive and the last to leave the site we rent each Sunday). We had a wonderful time. Here are some photos of our trip. Most of them are from the dinosaur exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo. Elijah missed Dixie and asked for her each and every day (the dog). He even cried for her a few times! What a great time we had. Happy 6th wedding Anniversary to my wonderful husband who still amazes and surprises me more and more.

New Photos!

I finally went to get Elijah's pictures taken a few weeks ago. He had been really difficult to take pictures of the last time I went and was not expecting things to go so well! Apparently, skittles is the key. :) I don't use them often for bribes but... I'm learning to use whatever works! Enjoy.

Praise the Lord God Almighty!

Elijah plays his guitar frequently in our house. One night, he came up with this little song he made up himself after attending church service with us a few times. It took me awhile but when I could finally make out what he was singing, I had to record it. Enjoy!

Fun Times!

What have we been up to? We've gone to the zoo several times already with lot's of friends and Elijah's young love, Belle. :) We've also had fun at Mimi and Papa's house for an Easter Egg hunt, Dad's birthday celebration to the Titanic at the Museum and also to the War Memorial. We've celebrated lot's of birthday's and got out in the warm WI weather. We love spring! Enjoy the photos!

Here are a few quick video updates from Elijah. He is getting so big and learning more and more every day. We love watching him grow! I hope you do too. :)

Love, the Duda's

Surprise!

Wow! David surprised Elijah and I on Sunday with an overnight trip to the local Holiday Inn Express with a really cool kid pool! I thought I would share some pictures from all the fun we had. Elijah's favorite part was going down this great big water slide. He also enjoyed kicking his feet and "swimming" (with mom's help) for the first time! We laughed and giggled and had all kinds of fun. Thank you David for a great surprise trip! We loved it!

Boys, Boys, Boys!

Last week we celebrated the birthday of our nephew, Gavin who turned 5! Here is picture of Peter (left) who is one month older than Elijah, Gavin, the birthday boy and my Elijah on the right. We had so much fun! I thought you would enjoy this photo. Lord help us in 3 years when these boys have energy to their potential! We love them...


And here is a picture of MY boys... David and Elijah. David surprised me last weekend by getting up with Elijah and taking him out to breakfast so mommy could sleep in. What a blessing it was to sleep past 8am! That was one of the best surprises ever. I love my boys. Here they are at the restaurant... I can only imagine the fun they had. :)

David fought with more kidney stones this week but came through surgery Monday very well. We are counting our blessings. Thank you for your prayers!!!

Happy Birthday Elijah!

Well, we just finished all the celebrations for Elijah's second birthday. But if you ask him, he's "free", as in three. Where does he get that? I have no idea. But it's cute in any case.
Elijah woke up on January 7th to his mommy and daddy singing "Happy Birthday" to him. He was wide eyed and gave us big hugs right from his crib. As he walked his way down the hall and into the dining room, he squealed with excitement and said "balloons!!!" I had changed the house over Tuesday night after Elijah went to sleep from Christmas to Birthday, and boy was he surprised! It's amazing what a few balloons and Happy Birthday signs can do to a house. He had his favorite breakfast, a blueberry muffin and yogurt (which he calls "ga-go"). Then he got to spend the day with daddy. I made him his favorite dinner, Mac & Cheese, and he blew out the candle on his "happy cake". He's been asking for his happy cake ever since that day! David and I got him a soccer goal and basketball hoop (indoor friendly) and he was thrilled. He loves to kick a soccer ball around the house and I can't wait until we can actually play outside. It was a lovely day. I'll have to post some photos of it another time.
Today, I am posting this photo because these were the pj's Elijah was wearing last night for bed. He got them as a birthday present and he insisted on putting them on that night. As you can see, his cousin Nathan also has similar pj's he also wanted to wear this sam night. These two boys are so funny together. Anyway, this morning, I went to get him and found him in his birthday suite! He was so proud of himself. I am grateful he at least kept his diaper on. :) He looked up at me and when I asked him what happened, he told me "mommy, I'm nakey!" That little goof! I thought, well no kidding! Oh goodness.
Well, that's all for now. I've got to have some time to post more but thought I would fill you in on this for now. I love that boy and am overwhelmed with blessings by my family! God is good.
Love you all!

A really strong message about dying and living!!!

This is a video clip about Tony Groves, a man who passed away this past year. He gives a beautiful account of how Jesus is everything. He was a member at Harvest Bible Chapel. Check it out. The video on the next post is his wife later in the year

A message of peace and trust in the Lord from Harvest Bible Chapel

Advent - Peace from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.
Here's a video from Harvest Bible Chapel about the Christmas Season. Michelle, the woman in the video, just lost her husband Tony. She talks about how the Lord gave her peace through it all. Check it out, it is really touching.

Elijah's Adoption is Finally Complete!

"...and it is so."
The judge and Elijah swung the gavel and his adoption was complete on Tuesday, December 16th. We couldn't be more excited to have all the paperwork wrapped up and behind us. Elijah was always "ours" on a federal level, this court appointment makes it possible to obtain a state of WI birth certificate for Elijah with our names as birth parents on it. How exciting! This process has taken a lot longer than it normal. We will use a different local agency (NOT America World, they were wonderful!!) for our next adoption. However, that won't be for another year or so. :) We're enjoying every minute with Elijah, even as we approach the "trying twos".

These days, Elijah is testing every boarder physically and verbally. Discipline has been dealt out with tears in our eyes (mine and David's), clinging to the promise to "Train up a child in the way he should go... he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:3. I am really enjoying the encouragement from the Entrusted with a Child's Heart class I'm taking through church. What a blessing to be with other moms each week as we strive to be Godly parents.

Elijah is mostly a wonderful little guy. Some of the fun things he has said and done are mostly in the car. David and I will either be deep in thought or in light conversation when we hear coming from behind us "ELIJAAAAH!!" slight pause then "ELIJAAAAH DUUUUUDAAAAAAA!" Followed by "Dixie Duda", "Daddy Duda", "Mommy Duda". Or while holding on to his Pooh bear, we'll randomly hear him yell "NNNOOOOO! NNOOOOO Pooh, no bite me!!" Where does he get this stuff?? I have no idea. Pooh is then given a talking to with discipline. Oh my goodness.... what else will this little man come up with?

Christmas was wonderful. Elijah slept in (our gift) until 8A! That is short of a miracle for him. Then we gave him our gifts. Each year, we decided to give him (and children to come) three gifts on Christmas morning from us. This year, Elijah received a magna-doodle, a movie and a guitar (just like daddy's). Each were a hit! He's already done a few rounds of Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, his ABC's, and I'm pretty sure he's catching on to the tune of Jesus Loves Me. He also will randomly sing Hallelujah. I still can't decide which song he's singing. :)

We are praising God for Jamie's surgery (David's sister) going well earlier in the week and that she is already home! We're looking forward to having Jude this weekend, to give Jamie some much needed rest.

We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas. I pray each and everyone of you had a blessed Christmas!

This is what Daddy and Mommy have planned for Elijah's second b-day

DisneyWorld was a BLAST!!!

Well, we are back from our family trip to Walt Disney World. It was so much fun to go with our little guy to the House of Mouse. He got so much more than Amanda or I thought he would. I know he probably won't remember it, but Amanda and I will. He is obsessed with telling us how naughty pirate are. Also, he's still mad that at Donald Duck for stealing Mickey's Hat in "Mickey's Philharmagic" attraction at the Magic Kingdom. We rode lots of kiddie rides and had a blast. And the most amazing thing was that I rode the tea cups with my son. I said I would never ride them. But you do crazy things for the ones you love. It was a great trip and we can't wait to, Lord willing, take him when he gets older. As with every family trip, it always has to come to an end. Back to the snow and cold of Wisconsin in winter. Praise God for the blessing of being able to go in the first-place.
So this is Elijah after telling Donald he was naughty for stealing Mickey's hat. Of course then Donald got a hug and kiss afterwards.
Here's Elijah hanging out with his buddy Mickey Mouse. Took three times for them to be really cool together. Elijah loves Mickey now.
These are a couple of ladies Elijah met in Animal Kingdom who are from South Africa. He seems to be a real ladie's man. Elijah was playing instruments and dancing with them for a LONG time...
Here are Peter and Bryony, our cousins from England. We got to hang out at Epcot one night together. Elijah had a great time walking around with them. Wish we could see them more often.
Here's Elijah and Daddy enjoying one of our many slushes together from the trip.
Mommy and Elijah riding the carousel together. He LOVES the carousel
Elijah after witnessing Donald steal the "hat" from Mickey. He seems to like the Donald merchandise though, hey?