leftovers...

Tonight after dinner I asked Eleanor if she was done eating. Without hesitation she simply said, "I need a box". I about died laughing!! 

ogden visit...

Friday Tiffany and I went up to Ogden to visit Carrie and her new little baby, Lacie. I forget how tiny and precious newborns are! Lacie was so much fun to hold. Carrie's mom was so nice and took us all out for lunch. It was so much fun getting together. Just before we were leaving I remembered I had my camera with me and we were able to get a few shots of Lacie. 

happy gas+belle and sebastian=rollercoasters

Yesterday I had to get a crown done at the dentist office. I HATE going to the dentist. I've never had strong teeth and it seems like no matter how much/often I brush I always have  cavities! When I got married I started going to the dentist John went to as a child. I really like Dr. Bateman and trust everything he does, but what I really like about him is that he was the first dentist to give me the happy gas! I swear, I don't think I would have my dislike for the dentist if I could of had this gas from the start. My new trick is taking my ipod with me and turn it up as loud as possible (I can not stand the sound of the drill right in my head!). Yesterday I decided to listen to belle and sebastian and together with the gas it was kind of tripy! I seriously felt like I was on a roller coaster the entire two hours! I'm sure my Dr. thought I was a complete nut when my legs and arms kept flying up in the air. Oh well, it made my dentist experience much more pleasant!

cousins...

Last week we got to have Ty over to play. Eleanor was so excited! She LOVES Ty and is always talking about him. I took them to get their photobooth photos and they were so funny. I love the bottom photo, it reminds me of a photo taken of Jeff and I when we were close to these ages. I really wish we lived closer to all of Eleanor's cousins. You can just tell there is a special little bond with cousins. 

about eleanor...

Today I called John to tell him some funny thing Eleanor was saying and doing. After we got talking on the phone we decided we need to do better at writing down some of these things. So for the record...

Yesterday we were driving in the car and she said, "Mama, cars coming". Of course, being Eleanor, she had to repeat it about a hundred times before we got home. And first thing this morning when we got in the car and started driving she said it again.

Today I took her to pick out some new underwear (going to give this potty training a try). I let her look at all the underwear and pick out which ones she wanted. At first she choose some pink ones then as we were leaving the isle she spotted some dinosaur underwear, the same ones Ty has. Once she saw those she no longer wanted the pink ones and ONLY wanted the dinosaurs. 

We then went over to the bank and right when I pull up to the drive up window Eleanor informs me she wants a diet coke and fries. She settled for the sucker.

Oh and my favorite right now is she watching her watch the movie Annie. She LOVES it. It wasn't until this month that she would sit longer then 5 minutes to watch a movie. I can't count how many times a day she ask, "watch Annie mom's bed" (I only let her watch it once a day). She even knows most of the songs. Her favorite is "Lets go to the Movies" and she can sing a good portion.

She can also sing "I am a Child of God" and can get through most of it without any help. She LOVES her music and calls the mix I made for her on my ipod her "favorite songs". Some of those songs are "Once there was a Snowman", "All you need is Love", "Hello Hello".

A couple of weeks ago she was asking for some of my diet pepsi (which she calls diet coke) and I told her no. She then asked for "DIET MILK".

Things are ALWAYS going missing around our house due to Eleanor putting everything she can find in all her bags. She'll walk around the house and put the most random things in grocery bags, purses and her backpacks.  She will also do this right before we leave the house. She tries to grab as much junk possible and wants to take it with her in the car.  

Each night when going to bed she has to take at least 3 things with her into her crib. Last night it was a play plate, a book and an old pair of jps.

She always asks me to "hold you on couch". She likes to lay together and rub my chin/neck area. She actually does this to most people. 

She's never taken a pacifier but has always sucked on her bottom lip when she gets tired.

Every morning when she gets up she asks for "Bo" (her dog Bear) hugs him and says, "I miss you Bo".

She  calls most candy "gum" and has been put in timeout numerous times for sneaking into the draw to get gum or asking for it 20,000 times a day!

salem days...

Each summer we look forward to Salem days with John's Grandparents and extended family.  This year we got up at 6:00 am so we could be there in time for the 7am fireman breakfast. After breakfast we all went back to Grandma's house and hung out until the parade started. Eleanor got to play with a ton of little girls and got in a lot of Grandma Hatch time. She loves sitting on Grandma Hatch's lap and patting her neck. 

Of course the parade was a big hit with Eleanor. It's fun to see how she's caught on to the whole parade thing. The first one this year she just kind of sat and watched, but now thanks to John's coaching, she's a parade-candy-catching pro!! Speaking of John, he was so excited at this parade because a nursery was passing out plants and John got one. I love his expression in this photo!

After the parade we had to rush home for me to get up to the U for my final critique. I was really happy with my critique and even happier to finish up another semester!  I wish I could take all my classes in the summer, they are so much more relax and a lot less time! 

Then after my critique we all headed down to the Lehi park for a family reunion with Grandma Hatch's family. It was fun seeing a lot of family and getting to know a few more people. John has some really fun extended family. Last summer at the reunion I found out that the lady who watches Eleanor at the gym's daycare is John's cousin.  The funny thing is Eleanor has always LOVED Ann, and it all made sense once we found out they were related!!

We left the reunion and headed back up down to Salem/Payson area. We went to Lana's for a little bit and let Eleanor and Quinn play.  It was so much fun for the two of them. They don't get to see each other that much, but they seem to always play pretty good together when they do see each other. I'm sure they will have a ton of fun on the cruise in a few months!!

We were afraid the fireworks were going to be cancelled because of all the rain and lighting, but they weren't!!!  I really think Salem has the best firework show in Utah. And it's great because Grandma's house is right off the lake and the fireworks are directly above us. This year we had to crowd under the deck because of the rain, but it was still so much fun! Right before it started raining we were all laying on the grass and eating cupcakes. Well, leave it to Eleanor to step right on the sheet of cupcakes and slide across them all! It was quite funny!!! I wish I had a good photo of it!  

Every year I forget they do a 5k run before breakfast, next year I'll try better to remember!!

deer valley...

Every summer I look forward to the outdoor symphony concerts at Deer Valley. This year John had to do community service with Goldman Sachs and got assigned for the Broadway night. When volunteering he had to be there a few hours early, which was nice for us because he was able to lay our blanket out early and get a good spot. While he was setting up my mom, Eleanor and I went to the store and stocked up on some goodies for the concert. It was such a beautiful evening and the music was great. Eleanor got into the music and enjoyed dancing and clapping! This really is one of my favorite summer activities to do with John and I'm already looking forward to next years!!

zoo...

Wednesday Eleanor and I took traxs down to John's work and then we all headed over to the zoo.  We were only there for maybe 45 minutes (which, if you ask me is plenty of time) but we had a great time. Eleanor got to ride the carousel, see the monkeys and listen to the "elephant song". It rained most the time we were there, which was nice because it cooled things down a bit.   Oh and if you notice, we also gave John a haircut this week. I miss the long hair, but I also think he looks great with his new cut!

mount timpanogos hike and cave and deer valley...

When my parents were up here we decided to hike Mount Timpanogos Cave. We had such a good time making the hike and enjoying the beautiful morning. On the way up we could hear a man singing at the very top.  When we were almost to the top we passed a very energetic man and I just asked if he was the one singing and if so would he please sing some more. John offered him a drink of his water and as the man left, he sang 'Perhaps Love' (one of my all time favorite and a must on any valentine mix). I LOVED it!! 

We all made it to the top in plenty of time for our tour of the cave. I didn't remember the tour being so long!! It was good, but I won't lie, I was starting to get a little claustaphobic! I'm not a huge fan of tight/crammed spaces!! 

Unfortunately, my dad had to go home after the hike and wasn't able to come with us to the Deer Valley Symphony. Every summer John and I look forward to going to at least one concert. This year John had to volunteer for Goldman Sachs at the concert. It actually worked out great because he was able to get in a little early and save us a good spot on the grass. I didn't really want to bring Eleanor with us, but John talked me into it and I'm glad he did. She LOVED it! She danced most of the songs and in between most songs she would say, "more songs".  These concerts are probably one of my most favorite thing about summer! The weather and scenery are always so beautiful!! 

This is the only photo we took of our little family. Right when we started taking these photos Eleanor let out a big cry and started saying her ear hurts. She kept pulling at it and saying her ear hurt all night. I was afraid she had an ear ache, but since she didn't complain the next day I'm guessing her ear was just clogged from being up in the mountains. 

Eleanor dancing to the music. She has so mad dance moves!! How young can they audition for 'If you think you can dance'??

ouch...

On Tuesday my mom, Eleanor and I met Jay and Zack over at Thanksgiving Point for lunch. After lunch we were walking  back to our cars and Eleanor and Zack started playing on a small little grassy area in between parking lots. We were all standing right there by them and could see that they were playing with the bottom of a street light. Eleanor lifted up a small part of the metal casing and suddenly there were over a dozen wasps surrounding her. Before I could get to her she started screaming and was covering her face. Right away I could see that she had been stung twice. Once under the eye and another right under her nose. Of course we were all a little panic, not knowing if she was allergic and worrying about the pain of the stings. She cried pretty hard for about five minutes but by the time we got home she was pretty calm. When we got home I noticed she had four additional stings on her face. The poor thing, her face was bright red and was starting to swell up. My mom looked online to see what to do for wasp stings while I tried calling my Pediatrician. Of course, the phones were down at all 3 offices. Jay called her brother and sister-in-law who are both nurses and they told us what to watch for. After talking to John and seeing that the swelling under her eye was getting worse, I decided to take her to the doctor's office. When we first got to the Dr.s office we found two more bites on her arm. That's a total of  8 stings!!!I was so proud of Eleanor, she was so good at the doctor's office. (I think she likes the Dr.s office because she has been obsessed with the "Five little Monkeys Song" the last few weeks and I'm sure she thought it was so cool that HER mama called the doctor.) She talked the the doctor and told her all about the "wasp bites". The Dr. gave her some medicine and said just to watch her breathing for the next 3 days. It's been two days and she's doing great. She still has some swelling under her eye, but NOTHING like before. It was seriously swollen shut and was even a little blue. 

Eleanor with baking soda paste. The paste helps draw out the stingers after it dries. 

The next day. You can kind of see how swollen her eye was. (yes, she is wearing the same dress. She fell asleep on the way home from taking Mimi to the airport and I didn't want to wake her to change her)