Eleanor's Fourth Birthday!

I always look forward to Eleanor's birthday and her party! This year was extra fun because she was so excited to turn four! The night of her actual birthday while getting ready for bed she said, "Are you sure I'm four. I still feel like I'm three.".

We had a really cute "dance" party this year. All the little girls came in tutus or dance wear and we had a girl from our neighborhood come over and give the girls (+Evan) a little dance class. They took it so serious, especially Eleanor.

Of course we stuck with tradition and had pinata. Eleanor saw the pinata earlier that week and
feel in love with it!

Overall we had a great party. It's been so much fun having this little girl of ours. She adds so much color to our family and makes our lives so much better! Here's to a great fourth year!

Poor Baby

Poor Amelia has another ear infection. She was miserable all weekend and to top it off I weaned her just the two days before she got sick. If only I had know she was getting sick I would have waited. I was really torn with the decision on weaning her. Amelia hasn't been sleeping through the night and I know it's because she relies on me for her "comfort" when she wakes up during the night. So, not only did I wean her, but I also started making her cry it out and sleep all night in her crib. The poor girl cried for a good hour (of course I patted her back every 10 minutes) and finally fell asleep. The second night was a 100x better and even though she's been sick, she's been sleeping in her bed. I put a little stuffed monkey in her crib and she cuddles up with it. It's the cutest thing! I'll be glad when she gets over this ear infection and she starts feeling better. This little girl takes after her dad and loves to be babied for while sick. She refuses to hold her own sippy cup and wants to be cuddled all day. Honestly, I love it. She is so fun to cuddle with and love on. I just really hope she gets over this infection fast and doesn't have another one anytime soon. The Dr. said if she gets another one within the next few months she's affraid she may need tubes. Poor girl!

Four Years Old!!

Eleanor turned four today. Four! I'm having a hard time comprehending this!

Yesterday we had a big family party to celebrate. We decided to go with an Italian theme complete with manicotti, fettucini alfredo, french bread, sanpellegrino and ice cream pizzas. Savannah and Ashley spent night and were great little helpers. They cleaned my house and even helped make the manicotti. Eleanor got spoiled rotten by all her cousins. She got a lot of barbies and pet shops, she was in heaven! Everyone had a good time and Eleanor loved having all her cousins over. When Dick was leaving Eleanor told him that she wasn't going to be able to sleep because of her new barbies and pet shops. And she was right, John and I fell asleep around 12 and she was still going strong!

First thing this morning Eleanor tells me she just doesn't feel four. It took some convincing, but she finally believed me that she was in fact four. Poor Amelia had another earn infection so we had to go to the Dr.s office. I felt bad Eleanor was spending her birthday at the Dr.s office but the nurses were all nice to her and gave her stickers and suckers. While filling Amelia's prescription, Eleanor found a toy she wanted. I figured she had gotten plenty the night before and when I told her no she responded with, "But mom, it IS my birthday". Although I found it funny, I didn't give in.

When we got home I could hear someone in our driveway so I had Eleanor tell me who it was. She told me it was a big guy and that she wasn't getting the door. Then two seconds later I see her eyes get big and hear her say, "Oh, I'm getting it. I'm definitely getting it". Turns out Amy and Davey sent her a bouquet of balloons and she was beyond excited! It made her day!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with her new toys and watching Jack and the Magic Bean "Stocking". We then met up with John at Old Navy to let Eleanor pick out a new dress for dinner. She couldn't find a dress she liked, so she got to pick out four shirts. Of course she picked out ones with a unicorn, dog, owl and penguin.

We had dinner at Outback because Eleanor loves their mac'n'cheese and shrimp. She loved the singing from the waiters and her ice cream. You could tell she thought she was so special. On the way home from dinner Eleanor pointed out that Heavenly Father and Jesus turned the sky pink because it was her birthday. Adorable!

Again, I really can't believe our little girl is four today. We love her so much and are so happy to have her!

Before It's Two

Amelia's bottom tooth is the cutest thing. I love how she only has one right now and how it's totally cricked. Her second little tooth popped through this week and I am going to miss her single tooth smile. However, I will not miss the runny nose and fussy nights.


Other big news, Amelia is saying her first word (other then dada). She said it for the first time last weekend and says it quite a bit now. In true Amelia fashion, her first word was "hi". Love it!

Soaking Nice

This morning Eleanor asked me if I would get out all her jewelry. Twenty minutes later she asks me to take her photo. While taking her photos she says, "McKenna is soaking nice. Can you believe she gave me all this expensive jewelry. I am going to keep it even when I'm grownup."


* I know I should correct her, but I love when she uses 'soaking' for 'so dang'.

Living the Life

Today I've been busy getting things done around the house and I must admit I was VERY jealous when I walked into this scene. Nothing beats laying in bed eating popcorn while watching the Parent Trap. I think I might just have to join in...

A Slice of Life

I walked into my bedroom this morning and this is what I found. I love how Eleanor came and found Amelia in my bed and cuddled up next to her. They slept like this for two hours.

Chomper And A Crawler

While I was down in Arizona Amelia got her first little tooth. I so sad for my little girl. She was pretty miserable for a few days before her tooth popped out. These were some of the last photos I got of her sans teeth. As of today, she still has just the little tooth on the bottom and I suspect a second will make its way any day.

I feel a little guilty about this, but I can honestly say I have not been looking forward to the day Amelia learns to crawl. I love being able to sit her down in one place, give her a few toys and know she'll be entertained for a few minutes. Well, today the little nugget figured it out. She's been working on it for a few weeks but this morning it all came together. In true Amelia style, she was tickled pink with herself and loved having all of us cheering her on. (I've never seen a baby love an audience more then Amelia!) I didn't capture her first crawling on film, but these were taken just the other day and I'm guessing I won't be getting many more photos of her on her tummy.

I really do wish I could stop these little milestones from accruing and keep this little baby little longer. She's growing faster then we signed up for!

Baby LouDawn

I came across this photo today and I think Amelia looks a lot like my mom.


And, I also think this photo looks a lot like Olive.

Amelia As of Today

She is eight months old and could not be more enjoyable. She loves to be held or played with and when she is left alone, she lets out the saddest cry.

I love getting her out of bed in the morning. She wakes up and plays in her in crib and when she sees me she gives me the biggest smile!

There is nothing like her kisses! They are wet and cover your entire face.

She has started eating her baby food from a straw. I wasn't fast enough with the spoon and she would yell at me when ever I took a brake to feel the spoon. The straw was the perfect solution. She gets to eat her food as fast as she likes and it's mess free! She will also drink formula from a cup with a straw but not from a bottle.

She has got the best mohawk! She has a small little patch of hair along the top of her head and it stands straight up.

She can babble with the best of them. So far all she says is "da da' and "ts ts".

She has quite the little death grip and loves to go for your nose or lips. And it hurts!

She loves watching Eleanor and laughing at her. Eleanor doesn't have to do much to get some great belly laughs from Eleanor.

On the other hand, she also gets annoyed with Eleanor. I guess she doesn't appreciate the hickeys Eleanor gives her.

She eats anything but when she's had enough she'll let you know!

She loves drinking from water bottles and likes spitting it down her tummy even better.

Can go from the sitting position onto her knees, but doesn't seem too interested in crawling.

Instead of crying, she yells. She doesn't do it too often, so when she does it you know she is really trying to tell you something.

She is growing up to dang fast and keeps getting more and more fun. We love her to pieces!

Eleanor As of Today

I have got to write down a few of these things so I don't forget them. There really is never a dull day with this little lady.

In Jackson our hotel didn't have a tub so Eleanor had to shower. At first she did not want to get into the shower, but by the end of the trip she was asking for showers. Now, it's only showers for her! And, she is telling me she needs "private time" while showering.

Today while driving I got cut off and said a few choice words. A few minutes later Eleanor asks me, "Mom, what's a dip-shit"?

She loves playing with Amelia and was so excited to teach her how to clap her hands. Every time Amelia starts clapping her hands, Eleanor runs over to her and says in a high pitched voice, "Good job Amelia. Your big sister is so proud of you".

She is constantly giving Amelia hickeys on her cheeks. It makes me so mad, but I can't blame her. Amelia's cheeks are that much fun to kiss (and suck on I guess).

She loves music! I've been making her mix cds with kids songs and she LOVES it! Her favorite songs right now are: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better; Sisters, Sisters; I've Got A Feeling; The Siamese Cat Song and Challengers (by the New Pornographers). For both Sisters, Sisters and Anything You Can Do songs, Eleanor has assigned singing parts for she and I. I love it! She knows all the words to the songs and gets pretty upset if I mess up or if sing one of her lines.

Barbies are her favorite thing to play. She is constantly asking me to play with her. She loves her new toy room and can play barbies for hours. She gets into it and loves to pretend that she has 16 sisters. In fact, she is always telling me she wants me to have 16 more girls. (Could you imagine?)

She still talks, yells, scream, sing and laughs in her sleep. The other morning I could hear her singing Anything You Can Do. It was adorable.

Shrimp and otterpops are her favorite foods right now. And she loves sneaking drinks of John's diet dew.

She adores her cousins. Especially Ashely, Savannah, Katelyn and Lydia. The other day at the park she told a little kid that she only plays with her cousins.

My favorite thing she says is, "of course I will" or "of course I do". It's so cute.

The list could go on and on, but I'm getting too tired.

Together

I loved today! I woke up and decided to take the girls to the zoo one last time before our pass expires. It was unusually hot, so we made our visit short. Eleanor enjoyed the crocodile and turtles the most. We also got to see the rhinos up close (this was the first for us!). After the zoo we met up with John for lunch. He has moved offices and is now right across the street from the library. I have a feeling lunches are going to be a lot more frequent with his move! After lunch I took the girls to the Natural History Museum for the photobooth. I was excited it was working and thrilled with the strips we got. Eleanor got to pick out a fancy pink rock and she said it would help her remember this day. She said I was better then all the other moms and that she had lots of fun today. She totally made my day!

Swimming

We are loving summer around our house! Eleanor seriously loves the water! Today our friends, Kate, Zack and Brianne came over for a little water fun. It was also Amelia's first appearance in a swim suit, and I just think she might be the cutest swim suit model out there!

Eleanor was quite the bully today with the hose. I'm pretty sure she sprayed everyone in the face at least once. Poor Amelia even got it but she didn't seem to mind too much. I'm going to be sad when our lazy summer days are over.

For the Record

This morning I put on a playlist of all the songs Eleanor is learning in Primary. When she heard the first song she came running up to me and asked, "Mom, how did you get this song? Did you still it from the church?".

It's officially Summer

I feel like my summer doesn't official start until we attend Lehi Round Up. Growing up, my hometown had a huge celebration for the 24th of July and I LOVED everything about it! I am so happy that my own little Lehi, UT too has it's own town celebration. I really do look forward to the parades, breakfast in the park and of course the rodeo. I even love getting up early in the morning to go set out our blankets for the parade.

Speaking of blankets for parades, I've never seen a town so serious about their parades. No joke, blankets and chairs were set out days before the parades!! I was thrilled to find a nice shady spot for the stock parade. It was so hot! Eleanor loved watching all the horses and kept asking if she could have every single horse that went by. Amelia enjoyed her first parade zonked out in Michelle's arms.

After the parade we enjoyed take out from our new favorite restaurant, The Thai House and then headed on over to the rodeo. The rodeo was great! Much better then last year. Eleanor had fallen asleep last year on the way to the rodeo and was a complete butt! We ended up leaving only an hour into it. This year I prepared and made sure she took a good nap before. What a difference! She enjoyed every second of it. In fact, I asked if she wanted to go with me to get a treat and her response was, "I don't want to miss the rodeo". Amelia was such a great little cowgirl. She didn't fuss once and seemed to enjoy herself. She is completely opposite of Eleanor. Eleanor slept threw most the rodeo when she was Amelia's age, but not Amelia. She stayed a wake for the entire thing and wanted to be a part of everything.


This year I was afraid we wouldn't feel up to going to the breakfast and the parade due to our late night at Lagoon. But, we were all up and out of our house at 8am! (Of course, I was up at 5 am to go lay out blankets. Lehi Round Up goers are serious about saving their parade spots! Some people had their stuff out days before!). Breakfast at the park was fun and Amelia got to enjoy her first pancakes. I always wish some of my family was in town to enjoy all the festivities, and this year we got to have Elizabeth and her kids! Eleanor was beyond excited to be with her cousins and I believe everyone enjoyed the parade.

Lagoon

I think the last time I went to Lagoon I was maybe 10 or 12. I remember coming up to Utah and being with my cousins, but I really don't remember Lagoon so much. So, I was pleasantly surprised at just how much fun I had! At 10:00 pm John had to pretty much drag Eleanor and I out of the park!

John got to go up in the morning with his work to volunteer with the Boys and Girls club. My friend, Kristy, and I drove up later during the day so the kids could go on some rides while we waited for the guys to finish with the Boys and Girls club. We brought Rachelle Zundel with us and she was ADORABLE! She was such great help with the kids and was so fun to have.

Eleanor of course loved any ride with water. She was hilarious on the rapid ride. When we first started going down some pretty big rapids she grabbed me tight and said, "Oh my God. I don't think we should be doing this". I couldn't help but laugh! (We are working with her on saying 'Oh my gosh'). Kristy and Kelly watched the babies while we went down with all the kids the first time and we got soaked!! The kids loved the ride so much that of course they wanted to go down again with Kristy and Kelly. It was a blast watching them come down stream and hearing the screaming. I could have spent all day on that ride!

I think the very best part of the day was just watching the kids and seeing how much fun they had. The funniest was watching Eleanor go on the lady bug ride with Kristy. The girl was terrified! She was crying and yelled to Kristy, "Get me off this thing!". She was a little apprehensive about the following few rides, but she got over it.

I'd have to give Lagoon two thumbs up! I really loved it!!

I took too many photos and had a hard time choosing just a few.