A Prince, a Princess, and a Dragon

Once upon a time, there was a dragon who was bigger than all the other dragons but was actually very friendly. He didn't even mind hanging out with the prince and princess.

In fact, you may notice that the dragon even kept one of the prince's swords . . . and showed it to anyone who came within two feet of him.

We had a great time this Halloween. Elliott did pretty well for a sixteen-month-old who doesn't eat very much candy, wouldn't you say?

And what was Elliott's favorite part of the ordeal, you might ask? That is probably a toss up between his first taste of apple cider . . .

and the obligatory pre-trick-or-treating-bucket-on-the-head ritual.

And with Halloween being over, now is the time for those other two holidays. We love this time of year!

Anniversary

It is hard to believe that it has been so long. Three years ago, I was a little darker, a lot skinnier, and a whole lot more naive. But I was also madly in love with a beautiful woman.

Since we got married, we have visited some cool places:

Celebrated a lot of events:

And even had the chance to act a little crazy:

(yes, that is Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlet)

I cannot imagine where my life would be if we had not met. It hasn't always been easy, but I think that we are more in love now than we were three years ago. And I think that's pretty good.

One Year Already?

We've come a long way, from this . . .





. . . to this.

Here are some of Elliott's favorite activities as of late:

learning skee ball (and yes, by the way, he did celebrate his first birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's--where a kid can be a kid),

playing with animals,

or just acting like an animal,

eating anything with sugar,

destroying anything valuable,

chewing on his favorite toy (and yes, by the way, those are my actual car keys--not one of the several plastic sets that we have provided him),

posing like a supermodel,

practicing the piano (and yes, by the way, we are playing a Shostakovich duet),

and just plain having fun!

Our sweet, little baby is already one! All of the sleepless nights--many, many sleepless nights--are worth it every time Elliott flashes one of his smiles. Sometimes in the morning when I am exhausted from being up most of the night, I will lay on the floor of Elliott's room while he plays. He never fails to come up and lay his head on me and then come close to my face and smile. At that moment I do not care how tired I am anymore. I did not know it was possible for one little boy to make a person so happy. I am so thankful that I get to be Elliott's mom. I love you, Elliott!

Recap

Sorry it's been so long since we posted last. So much has happened--visits from family, graduation, moving, etc. But here is a good summary of what we've been up to:

Man of Many Talents

Lest any of you think that we have an untalented son, we wanted to share some of Elliott's latest tricks. Although he may look like a normal kid, little did you know that he can function as:

an escape artist . . .

a conga line dancer . . .

a motivational speaker . . .

a concert pianist . . .

a lion tamer . . .

a ham . . .

a best friend . . .

an identical twin . . .

an angel . . .

and, last but not least, a drama king . . .

No comment on where he got that last talent from!

Merry Christmas

Even apart from finals, the month of December was very exciting. It was our first time having a holiday alone as a family. Although we really missed spending time with our family, it was also nice to relax and start our own traditions. Elliott was just glad that he wasn't in the car for another road trip.

We got into the Christmas spirit soon after Thanksgiving. Even Elliott liked the decorations.



We also had a lot of fun. Some kind person was our Secret Santa and left twelve days of goodies on our doorstep. We made gingerbread houses with our friends, the Jesses. We made holiday caramel, fudge, bark, and cookies . . . all to give away, of course. We drove a half hour to see a famous house of Christmas lights . . . only to find out that the lights weren't there. By the time the big day arrived, do you think Elliott was excited? We'll let you judge for yourself:



We didn't think that Elliott would actually enjoy getting presents, but he was pretty into it. He helped unwrap several things (followed by the paper going straight to his mouth) and wanted to touch everything.



Basically, the kid was spoiled. He got pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson, an outfit and toy piano from Nana Kathy, stacking rings from Aunt Paige, an awesome tie from Aunt Krista, a personalized bib from Aunt Lauren, and too much more. Thank you so much to everyone! Do you think he liked his presents? We'll let you judge that for yourself, too:

We Are a Happy Family

It's amazing what you find the time to do when you should be studying for finals. Blogging is a good example. For those of you who have been waiting for more pictures, you can thank the upcoming exam schedule.

ANYWAY, things have been exciting at the Nelson home. We woke up one night to the sounds of Elliott gasping for breath. After several trips to a steamy bathroom and a visit to a pediatrician, he kept getting worse. We went to the emergency room and found out that he had croup. Why does our child love the hospital, you might ask? We have been wondering the same thing ourselves. Thankfully, Elliott is doing much better now--back to his normal smiling self.

We convinced our friends to take some pictures of us at the Duke Gardens (which, by the way, are absolutely beautiful). Elliott was not in the best mood, but here are the fruits of our labors:

(Don't you just love that picture? I think it is the cutest thing.)

Last, but not least, we just got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving trip to Georgia. It was a whirwind week, and Elliott was definitely sick of the car by the time we got home, but it was tons of fun. Elliott was spoiled all week with his aunts and grandma holding him, and it was great to spend time with family. Now we are back in the real world and preparing for a crazy month to wrap up the semester . . .