From Baby to Boy

It has been brought to my attention that my son has gotten a bit of a shaggy do. Check out the hair hanging over his ears:

Even more noticeable in this picture:

So, we did it. His first hair cut. Well, really just a trim around the ears. He was such a trooper, even though he looks a little unsure about it in this picture.

Then it was daddy's turn.

The result. Excuse me, what happened to my baby boy?

Four Generations

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, four generations of Eigsti men. Take it in, as there are so very few Eigstis on this fine planet of ours, and here are 4 in one picture!

Three Muskateers

Can we say Triple Trouble??? Here is Luke sandwiched between two of his cousins. Andrew plays with him pretty well and loves to make him laugh. Jonathan and Luke are exactly a year apart and therefore there are some toy battles to be had, but the love is there for sure. I have a feeling these boys will be good buddies growing up and perhaps a little trouble for their mothers.

Tanya got them all matching shirts to wear at Christmas. Too bad Santa didn't deliver matching attention spans/smiles!
Please note Luke's face in the pic below. We don't know where this expression came from, but it is his new "so excited, can't believe it" face. He uses it frequently these days. hi.lar.i.ous.

Game Plan 2010

So, as I was pondering the idea of making New Year's resolutions, I came to the conclusion of..."What's the point?". Not that making resolutions is a bad thing, but I am thinking more along the lines of, how does this affect my eternal growth? Pretty sure when I get to heaven, God isn't going to ask me, "So, how did that 'learn to knit' resolution go for ya?". That said, my goal this year is to read the Bible in 2010. The whole thing. I'm using the One Year Bible, which has the whole reading plan set up for me. Because I'm a little lazy like that and am more likely to achieve this goal if it's already all set up for me and all I have to do is read. Now, technically, I confess, I'm already a day behind, but I will do it, by golly. And there will be ice cream in the end to celebrate. And maybe in my spare time I will learn to knit, just for an added bonus.

Do you have any eternal goals 2010? Do share. Seriously. I heart comments.

Merry Belated Christmas

Ok, so I was just wondering...is there anyone out there other than me who can't seem to pull it together this year??? I even got half a Christmas letter written, but didn't have time to finish it. sigh. As I reflect on 2009, one word comes to mind: Change. It goes as follows: In February, we welcomed Luke Thomas into our family and began our journey into parenthood. In April, Chad accepted an associate pastor position in Kansas. In June, we moved 1000 miles from Cleveland to Hutchinson and Chad began his position at the church, as well as his new vocation as a plumber (with no prior experience, by the way). In August, we made 2 offers on two houses and didn't get either of them. In August, I also started back to work part-time at a new job working as a speech therapist at a school (very new for me since I'd never worked in a school setting before). In September, I joined the women's ministry team at church and started leading a Bible study. In September, we also made another offer on a house and got it! We closed on the house in October. In November we moved into the house after numerous hours of painting and fixing. Which brings us to December, when we had a broken down water heater, and we still have plenty of unpacked boxes, and a bathroom project in the works, complete with a toilet in the guest room and the sink and vanity in the living room. Now that I look back at this crazy year, I don't feel so bad about not sending out Christmas cards, because really, it's a miracle I'm still sane. Here's to hoping for a less eventful 2010. And maybe I'll even get a little more organized. I did get a label maker for Christmas after all.
From our hectic home to yours, we wish you a (belated) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday...

To the hottest husband around! I gotta say his birthday is not at the most ideal of times, since it often can get overlooked in the midst of crazy holiday happenings. But I'm here to say he is a wonderful, selfless husband and father. He works. Hard. He is passionate about helping people. He is discerning and wise. Here's to hoping Luke grows up to be just like his daddy. Happy Birthday, my love.

A Trip to the Zoo (with Grandpa and Grandma Nisly too!)

Luke visited the zoo for the first time in October. Even though I'm way behind in posting them, the pictures are too fun not to show anyway. My parents went with us and it was a perfect fall day to enjoy the outdoors!

I think Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed themselves as much as Luke did!

Monkey see monkey do.

Luke's Room

Thank you for being patient with me (as if you are all waiting on the edge of your seats for me to post something new, ha!) as I have been super slow to post pics the last several months! We are finally in our new home with daily internet access at last and everything. I'll be playing catch up for a while. I have some fun pictures of a trip to the zoo and other adventures that will be coming once I get the pics off of my parents' camera. Until then, see some updated highlights of the last couple of months as you scroll down. And I have had requests to show our work at our new house, so I will start in Luke's room, which is my absolute favorite. Not sure how he gets the coolest room of the house. But, if our bathroom ever gets done, that may become my new favorite.

I don't have the original look of this room, but imagine blue wallpaper with little flowers...not quite the boy look we were going for. So this shot is after (count them) three layers of wallpaper have been removed but before the paint... And after...
We started with a orange and brown theme (partly because it's cool and partly in honor of his birthplace - the Cleveland Browns), but later thought the blue was a perfect complimenting color and would brighten it up a bit. Chad was reluctant at first, but I told him the blue could represent Lake Erie. He wasn't super impressed, but went with it anyway, and now we both love it.

In Other News...

I cut my hair. A whopping 4 inches. It's the first time it's been above my shoulders in...well, a long time. Somehow, people haven't really seemed to noticed though. I think only 3 people have noticed in the last two weeks. Obviously a more exciting milestone for me than everyone else! If you look closely, you can see the green wall in the background which is the color of our new bedroom.

8 month pics of Luke

This is our new thing. Luke has figured out the whole separation thing...like when mommy puts him down for a nap she leaves the room. So he did not nap/sleep all that great for awhile, but hopefully we're back on track now. Anyway, he's taken to sitting up in his crib and crying until eventually he wears himself out and falls asleep sitting up, which ends up looking like this. I happened to peek in his room right as he was falling asleep literally sitting up with the head bobbing thing going on and everything so I ran to get the camera and by the time I got back I found this.

My little bookworm. Getting to his pile of books is what motivated him to learn to crawl.
Oh yeah, have I mentioned he crawls now? My life as a blissful, carefree mother is over. It just happened overnight practically. One day he couldn't and didn't seem to care. The next day he made a beeline across the room for his books. Now he makes a beeline to pretty much everything that is not baby related...outlets, a teeny tiny screw, breakable items, etc. I'm excited that he has accomplished this milestone, but secretly, I'm also in mourning because I know what awaits me and that this is just the beginning.
Awww, this picture was just taken a short week and a half ago, back when life was simpler and I could just sit him by his toy box and not worry about his every move. *Sigh*

This pic is pretty deer-in-the-headlights-ish, but check out those big brown eyes!
Halloween. Yes, I said Halloween. Yes, I realize it's almost December.
The cutest cow on the Nisly Farm.
This picture is pretty wiggy for some reason, but a cute one nonetheless.