a recap of 2 months...

oh my how time flies. the holidays blew in and out of our household this year with a furry and i think we're still getting caught up. here's a recap of what has been going on in the anderson house lately:

- joel and i had our first night away from eli and it went wonderfully. thanks to sara and mike, we were able to have 24 kid free hours. we forgot what it was like to not have to cart a kid around and we could just...go. it was great but we (read: i) were ready to come back and snuggle up with our little guy.

- eli is officially walking! finally, at 15 months he decided that he could do this thing called walking. since then he hasn't stopped for a moment. for a long time he was walking but always had to hold onto something, a wall, a table, our weighted walker. but one day he just decided to let go and let loose.

- our previous "safe" zones are no longer safe now that he's walking. so our level of mess has moved up some so it's almost at eye level. makes you pick up a little bit more often!

- eli's new favorite past time is books, books, books. i don't think you guys understand. he will sit still for at least 10 minutes for us to read books to him. and this happens about 4 times a day! needless to say my vocal cords are getting a work out. he also has started wanting to read specific books and isn't too happy when you suggest something else (because you've read Curious George 4 times already today).

- joel has finally been assigned his own crew at e80 plus, thank god! it means way less travel for us and more consistency for joel at work. both really good things.

- i (shannon) have started my own business. this month i'm launching a home based breastfeeding counseling business. the basic idea is that i will travel to women's homes and help them with any breastfeeding issues they may have and support them. you can check out my website for more details at www.madisonbfsupport.com. most of my work will most likely come from personal referrals so pass the word folks. much appreciated!

- i (shannon) had my first long weekend away from both eli joel. my friends from college and i all met in NYC for a long weekend of wine, amazing food, shopping, amazing desserts, shopping, sangria and connecting. we've decided that every year we're gonna take a trip the 4 of us to connect and recharge with each other. and we've decided that the year we turn 30 we're going somewhere warm!

- there are a variety of places that we are now known at: crema cafe, woodmans, the children's museum, goodman community center, nursery at church and hobby lobby. i guess it pays off to frequent places so often they know you and say "how's it going this week?". i really enjoy that consistency and feeling that we're part of this community on the eastside.

- playgroup is expanding and we've needed to move to the basement for more room! it's so great to see the kids finally playing with and off of each other.

- lastly, eli LOVES to sweep (or play with the broom, however you'd like to see it). and joel and i had a breakthrough....the shortened swiffer! joel noticed that you can take sections out of the swiffer and now we have a perfect "eli height" swiffer. and he is swiffering all around the upstairs! i've attached a cloth diaper to it and my floors (at least the back hallway) are looking pretty nice. i figure we need to cash in on this enjoyment of cleaning while we can!

we'll have more on snowpacolypse 2011 (or snowmeggedon as i call it) later. it deserves it's own post with some supporting videos.