The Lost Years...well, Months.

So, because it was September  the last time I made a blog post and it is now December - I decided I should probably do a quick update on everything that has happened over the past few months.

First off, Mommy and Daddy got married! I know, I know... about time, right? But we had a really simple ceremony on October 10th and we'll be having a "big" wedding on our 1 year anniversary. Yes, it is strange, but since when do we do things the way they are supposed to be done? lol

The Ater Family

Baby Ater #2 (name still pending) had his first baby shower! My wonderful girlfriends threw me a shower and it was perfect! We had so much fun and I don't know what I would do without them.

The extremely talented Ms. Janna made these for everyone at the shower!

Elijah fell in love with Auntie Kayla

And of course, he couldn't get enough of Aunt Janna 

We had our first big snow on Thanksgiving Day! Elijah, who loved the sight of the snow, DID NOT love being put down in it. As long as his feet were off the ground, he was fine. Otherwise, it was a crying nightmare. lol

Elijah finally, FINALLY has teeth! Yes, my son did not get his first tooth until he was 16 months old, but he got 4 at once, so he's making up for lost time. :-) I love his little toothy grin! It's absolutely adorable!

Elijah with his big cousin Ace

Mommy is currently 32 weeks pregnant and feeling extremely large. Some of the things I have experienced this pregnancy that I did not experience with Elijah are: swollen hands and feet, really intense Braxton Hicks contractions, incredibly dry skin, and far more weight gain. I currently weigh more than I did when I gave birth to Elijah and I still have 8 weeks to go...Dear. Lord.

Lastly, Elijah went on his first trip to the zoo! He absolutely loved the tiger and the polar bear. He kept "rawr-ing" at the tiger and he giggled while the polar bear played with a ball. We also saw an orangutan who would come up to the window if you show her your purse and point for you to pull things out and let her see! It was so cool! So, tip, if you go to the Louisville Zoo, you can show the female orangoutang your purse and she will be very interested. :-)

Round Two...

Well, since Elijah is now a year old and we will no longer be doing monthly pictures, I decided the only way to keep this blog going would obviously be to get pregnant AGAIN!   ...just kidding. But really though, baby boy Ater numero dos will be here in February! Ok, to answer a few questions I know is burning in everyone's brains:

1. Q: Was this planned?
    A: Negative. We are just really good at making oops babies. :-)

2. Q: Are you freaking out?!
    A: Absolutely. I'm just starting to get used to one kid...now I'm going to have to go through an entirely new transitioning phase! At least they're both boys so I'll be able to use most of what I've learned from Elijah on baby #2.

3. Q: Wait, you already know it's a boy?
    A: Yeeeeeah...we waited until we were about 18 weeks before telling anyone. Even though my body is expanding at an ever increasing rate, living out in the country and having no social life made it much easier to conceal my baby belly. That, and we have just been so crazy busy that we decided instead of 2 announcements (1 about the baby and 1 about the gender) we would just do 1!

4. Q: How are you going to handle being the mother of 2 boys?
    A: I think if there was ever a woman created to deal with boys, it was me. I have 2 little brothers and all of my cousins are boys. It's second nature to me. lol

5. Q: Are you excited?
    A: Yes! My baby is hitting toddler phase and I was just starting to miss all of the baby-ness... Now I get to enjoy both simultaneously!

6. Q: Do you have any names picked out?
    A: We have 3 that we are deciding between right now: Jonah, Malachi, and Noah.

7. Q: How far apart will your boys be?
    A: 18 months - crazy right?

8. Q: When are you guys getting married? (I get this ALL OF THE TIME)
    A: Well, when you plan on an October wedding and buy your dress and then, oops! - you're going to be 6 months pregnant by the time you get to wear this beautiful, tailored-to-your-prebaby-figure dress - you realize that the wedding of your dreams is probably going to have to be postponed. So, we're getting married in October of 2015.

Ok, ok. No more questions. lol This time around I'm not going to do the weekly pictures. I know, I know...I'll probably regret it later, but I never fix myself up enough for photo ops because I'm always at home with Elijah so I don't plan to start now. Yes, this is entirely based upon my laziness factor hitting about a 9 on the Richter Scale.  All of that being said, I will keep you guys updated on my progress and this will give me an excuse to keep posting pictures of my adorable kid so...win, win!

So here was how we actually announced it to everyone:

And this is just a cute picture of post-mud bath time! Enjoy!

12 Months - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH!!!

Age: 12 Months

Weight: 26 lbs

Height: 35 in

Size Clothes: 18-24mo

New Trick(s): Blowing kisses, following directions, saying "Thank You!"

Hours Sleeping at Night: 12-13

Elijah is a year old!!! I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by! It seems like just yesterday we were bundling up this little 8lb 8oz baby and taking him back to our apartment to begin our lives as parents. Now he is our entire world and we couldn't imagine our lives without him!

For his first birthday, Elijah got to experience all kinds of firsts! He had his first cake (which he got to smear all over himself, as every baby should), his first party, and later on, his first trip to a dairy farm and his first kiss! 

He absolutely loved opening all of his gifts and smooshing cake everywhere, although he did share a little with Mommy and Daddy. We had lots of bubbles and balloons and he got to play to his hearts content!

We had his party a few days before his actual birthday because we were going to Pennsylvania for our friend Jake's wedding! We stayed with Jake's parents, Jean and Keith, who own a dairy farm and Elijah had SO MUCH FUN! We couldn't be more thankful for Jean and Keith and their wonderful family. Their house was absolutely beautiful and the view was amazing. They are definitely some of the most loving, humble, hard-working people I have ever met and I can't wait to see them again!

At the rehearsal dinner on this actual birthday - June 27th

Josh was the best man and the beautiful Mrs. Molly was the maid of honor

This was a shot from the mountains at Jake's family's camp.

Elijah absolutely loved the calves!

Keith and Elijah were best buds.

Daddy and his mini-me.

Elijah's first kiss with Leah!

Letting out the cows

Elijah's favorite cow. This one started sucking on his foot!

11 Months

Age: 11 Months

Weight: 26 lbs

Height: 34 in

Size Clothes: 18-24mo

New Trick(s): Saying all kinds of new words and making animal noises!

Hours Sleeping at Night: 12-13

Language has opened its doors to this child in the past month. Although his words are barely legible, and often only me or Josh can actually tell what he is saying, he is definitely picking up all kinds of new sounds and putting labels to objects! He will point out and say: light, flower, cat, doggie, Daddy, and leaf. He also says "uh oh" and "thank you" (although it sounds like 'tik oh'). His FAVORITE is to make animal noises! I can ask him what the cat, cow, donkey or doggie says and he will meow, moo, heehaw or woof at me. His favorite animal noise is definitely the monkey. He does it all of the time around the house without any persuasion. 

His personality has definitely started really blooming this past month and this kid is CrAzY!!! Seriously, I have never seen a child this silly in my entire life. He just screams and carries on all of the time at absolutely nothing. He talks to the cabinet doors because they won't open up to him like they once did (they have child-proof locks on them now). He  needs little-to-no entertainment from me because he is perfectly capable of entertaining himself. He's just a nut...pure and simple. 

He is also a climber which makes pictures nearly impossible. 

Seriously,  he's a nut.

He has definitely taken up a preference for daddy lately. He is a daddy's boy from his head to his pudgy little toes.

10 months - Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER! 

Age: 10 Months

Weight: 24 lbs

Height: 32 in

Size Clothes: 18-24mo

New Trick(s): Waving, high fives

Hours Sleeping at Night: 12-13

So, this post will be a little different from the rest because the Blanton-Ater bunch has had A LOT going on (but what else is new?). To start, my child is ten months old... What the heck?! My itsy-bitsy baby is no more! He definitely has a personality of his own and it is LOUD. Very loud. lol He just yells constantly. Not mad yelling or crying yelling, just I'm-happy-at-the-world yelling. When we go to the grocery store he yells at everyone there. When we're at church, he yells in between songs when everyone else is quiet. He just loves to make noise! He is also doing a great job at this walking business. As long as he has some balancing help, he's got it on the lock down. He has also learned to wave at people and give high fives! We are also proud to announce that we no longer need a paci! He actually broke himself from that about a month ago, but I forgot to mention it. He is doing much better at learning to occupy himself (the dogs help with that), so Mommy is very thankful! She can actually get some work done!

Speaking of work... Mommy and Daddy have been VERY busy lately! The farm life is extremely different from living in the heart of Louisville, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! It's hard work, but it is so worth it! I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am that God has given us this opportunity. Our son will be raised to know what it means to work for what you have. What you have is only worth the time you put into it, so I want Elijah to be appreciative and humbled by what he has been blessed with and not to take it for granted. 

This month Mommy, Nanna, and Aunt Christina threw a baby shower for Uncle Trent and Aunt Sharon! They will be welcoming little miss Emma Scarlett Blanton into their lives in July! Her due date is actually July 4th and mine was July 3rd last year, so Elijah will be getting his first baby girl cousin for his birthday! Since the shower was so close to Easter, we just decided to to an Easter themed shower! It was adorable! I had so much fun with all the pink-themed things! Living with two boys isn't exactly a good environment for pink things. lol

Sharon looked beautiful!

Pink lemonade in mason jars - that's how we do it in KY!

My mom made this incredibly sweet Easter basket for Emma!

My first attempt at a diaper cake

I am going to steal Chelsea and make her my permanent babysitter. Elijah LOVES her!

Great-Grandma Brenda

Sharon and Trent

My beautiful parents, Eddie and Robin

Elijah had fun trying to feed Nanna a straw

Elijah's first Easter egg hunt!

Aunt Tina let Elijah hang out on the motorcycle with his cousin, Ace. 

This little boy LOVES beards!

We were able to spend Easter with my family in Richmond and we also got to go see Josh's family as well! Elijah looked precious in his little plaid Easter shirt and khakis! He also got his first hair cut right before the baby shower, but he has a double crown and a cow lick so it is going to be extremely difficult to fix this kid's hair.

The only one missing was my little brother, Cody.

My handsome men.

Papaw Eddie

Sharon, Trent, Papaw, Nanny, Me, and Josh