Seven months old!

Elijah turned 7 months old last week. He has been growing like crazy and adding new tricks rapidly these days. He had already gotten in 4 teeth before last week, was sitting up well independently, and then started crawling. Today, he stood alone, for 10 seconds or more, repeatedly! He is so proud when he does, and we have to laugh. We had his first professional photos taken last week on his 7 month birthday, and he put on a show. He's such a sweetie, and the photographer loved how cooperative he is. You'd never know he'd had his pictures taken at home a few times...

God is so good to have given us this baby we longed for, and we try to celebrate his life every day, and the gift he is. We just cannot take him for granted. Our whole family constantly says how much joy he brings us. That's something that just confirms to me that the desire we all had individually, and as a family, for another member of our family was something God placed there, and fulfilled. We're so grateful. Now, as Abigail reminds us often, she needs a sister to even things out, and we do feel that someday God may open the door for us to adopt again. We're prayerfully hoping that can happen. For now, though, we're certainly enjoying our Elijah-bear. He is marvelously cuddly and sweet-natured, and I think that comes through pretty well in these photos!

Most lovable baby

Elijah is in a cheesy contest at CBS 42. You can go to www.cbs42babycontest.com and vote for him if you have nothing better to do. :-) Scroll through till you see this picture. You then have to go the end of all the babies to submit your vote. The contest ends on July 16th. Apparently, you can vote often, each day. We're having fun with it. He's already won our own family contest for lovable-ness!