Wonderful Weekend!

All my pics are totally out of order, but I have a movie waiting for me, so I'm not going to worry about organizing them this time.

So this weekend was superb. Ellie took us out to dinner yesterday, sent us to church today to then realize how beautiful it as out, so we were naughty and skipped out after sacrament and took off for the coast. We packed ourselves a delicious lunch and enjoyed the rays. It couldn't have been a better day if we tried!

E also had Drew put her hand and footprints on a cute little framed picture for me to hang in the hall, and she insisted that Drew buy me a mandolin because it rhymes with Madeleine and that's what she thought I was saying in the womb when I said my name. Little did she know I've wanted one for years! hooray!!



Buttercup and me. It was too sunny and there was a squirrel getting her attention.


SAND! HOORAY!!


I think she played in the sand for a good half hour



Yay for pictures!


E stole Drew's apple and insisted it was hers. She shared with Drew though...it was adorable!!


Pretty summer dress - she has quite a few more to pose in for you ;)


without the jacket


pretty bows that actually were clipped onto HAIR, no joke! I loved this face!


The clippies in her hair. hehehe - I have no idea what she was looking at in this.


Hey maaaum, I found your pens!


and of course, you can't forget my beautiful ocean. Love that guy!

Elliebeths

love this girl...


(I grabbed her little lamby and she let me cuddle her and sing songs before going to sleep tonight. Normally she fights to get in her crib and I have to sing to her while she gets settled in. That was the best 3 minutes of my day.)

I love that when you ask her if she wants to brush her teeth, she smiles and gets excited


we found magnets at our friend's house!!


ooohhh shiny!!



like I said...I love this girl....
thank you sweetheart for being mine

My Sunshine

I thought you'd enjoy some pictures, cause I always do...


Before.... (34 days old)- I feel sad she's crying, and I know why she was crying but it was just so gosh darn cute!


After! (310 Days Old)

Where did my baby go?


She's learned to throw things over the edge and get on her knees to inspect her handy work.

Peek-A-Boo! Bathy Time Style!



Love these smiles

And these...

And always these!

cute bebe

Eating the cookie dough- she didn't get sick btw, and the eggs weren't even pasteurized!


This week has been a difficult one for me emotionally and spiritually. I have some questions that I need answers to, and I'm afraid of the outcome. I need to be at peace with my decisions and I don't know if it's going to come easily, and that scares me. I have spent the greater part of my last ~12 years meticulously planning out my life, and to not have everything fit in it's little puzzle piece exactly the way I planned is difficult for me to accept. Here's hoping for the best.

In other family news, E has figured out how to pull herself up in the tub- only once, but she can do it. I honestly and truly feel that she's afraid of getting hurt. She was standing at the coffee table today (Drew was behind her) and she fell backward. She didn't bend at her hips and just went straight back into Drew's arms- not getting hurt or anything. But the sheer *thought* that she COULD have fallen and hit her head freaked her out so badly that she cried uncontrollably for a good minute. I felt horrible for her. She also has decided cookies are worth staking her comfort on. She really tried SO hard to get on those cute little hands and knees to get a cookie I put on the floor. She also did a couple step cruise along the coffee table to grab a piece. She got them all, but man did it stress her out. She just tenses up, and just freaks out. I really feel there's some doubt going on that she can't do it and/or fear that she's going to hurt herself which is prohibiting her from doing much. She bawls if she lands on her bum after standing even, and I guess I don't know how to change that other than reassure her that she's OK and redirect her. Any suggestions? I know she'll get it eventually, but in reality, I know she's strong enough, something just isn't clicking.

With Drew- he just bought a couch for his office. He's pretty excited about it. He's also looking at trophies for the office so that when someone wins their trial, they get to have this roaming trophy as their bragging rights of sorts. I think it's a fun idea.

That's about it for us. I went to OMSI today with the kids which was fun. I wish it had been longer though!

Thank You

My little one has been pretty sick this week. I was told to keep an eye on her temperature so it didn't get too high. The temperature was the only thing keeping her from going to the hospital with RSV. I got to stay home with her Tues-Thurs while Drew got ready and completed a trial (he won by the way). I really do love working, and I'm glad that I do work. It gives me purpose, direction, consistency and money. What it doesn't give me is time with my beautiful daughter. I did however choose the career path I did, so that I could spend afternoons and summers with her- and once she's in school and remembers life, it won't be a big deal.

Most mornings I'm OK with sending her to the babysitters. She gets along with all the kids, they love her, care for her, and she gets the benefit of older siblings without having any at home. She gets played with, whereas at home, I honestly feel that she gets bored. I get tired and we end up sitting on the floor playing because we've already been outside 3 times that day. I think once she is mobile, it might be a *little* easier, and if she wasn't sick, it would be a little better too.

Anyway, the point I want to make, is that even though I stressed about being gone from work, once I had those sub plans done, and the sub called in, work went away completely. It was me and my little girl, and I couldn't have been more thankful for her.

Elisabeth isn't normally a cuddly baby...she has to be doing something (aren't they all?) but I have enjoyed and soaked in every SECOND she has let me cuddle her. I tell her I love her and how precious she is to me, and to see her just gaze at me is the best thing in the world. (minus the coughing fits!)

So in my own selfish way, thank you, Elisabeth for being sick, so I had a good excuse to stay home with you and watch you grow, to hear you say mommy, yay, and uhoh like a pro, and to give me snot covered kisses- I wouldn't trade them for the universe



Daddy built her a fort! She's a good destroyer and had it knocked down in under a minute!


I went to take the dirty diapers out+recycling and this is what I came back to. ...I had placed her in the MIDDLE of her rug, and she magically made it over to the tissues and garbage can. LOL


This is my itty bitty garden. The plants are in, now I just have to clean up the dirt I dug out and put it over and around our patio stakes since they need more dirt!

10 months, crawfish and whatever else

My little pumpkin is sick with pink eye and an upper respiratory infection. Although having a sick baby is tiring, I'm still excited for summer time.

Here's the latest stats on my little girl since she's a whopping 10 months old now!!

She's in the 97th percentile for weight (24lbs, 11oz), and the 73rd percentile for height (29"). I still really feel that she's so long for her age. I don't know how some of these clothes fit lighter, but longer kids? hmmm... anyway, she's perfect to me, and that's all that matters!

Things she can do:
Roll over both ways onto her stomach, but only one way onto her back.
Pull up to her knees in her bed if she's sitting.
When sitting, she can put herself into crawling position, but then gets tired and lies down.
She can say- mama, mommy, dada, dad, hi, yay, no-no, huh?
She can sign- milk, cereal, more, all done and eat- not consistently with everything, but enough to know she knows what she's doing ;)
She can scream real loud and bite really hard
She loves pinecones on our walks
She's started doing this weird smile where she'll scrunch up her face- I think it's darling, but it's difficult to get on camera.
She has 2 teeth and no more in sight.






This was the sunset last night at our house- it was absolutely gorgeous!


cheeeese!


nom, nom, nom!

She was attempting mad skills


I moved the position of the wee one to get more leg action



Happy girl!


This was at the crawfish bake we went to over the weekend- it was pretty cool. I ate 3 of them. :)




The hummingbirds were everywhere- so pretty!!


E was a trooper yesterday. She ran with me in the rain and didn't seem to care one bit! Thanks little girl! :D