Wordless Wednesday

Monkey Joe's

This is how we spent our snowy first day of Spring.

Shamrocks and Sunshine

This past week the weather was absolutely beautiful. Eleanor and I spent many hours at the park playing on the "wings" and "lides." Daniel and I both commented on how confident she has become at the park since last fall. She has no fear and climbs to the top of the play structure and comes down the twirly slide all by herself. The first thing she asks for almost every day now is to go walk and to "wing" and "lide."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

19 Months

Our sweet girl is 19 months old. I can't believe she will be 2 in just 5 short months. She continues to amaze us each and every day. If I had to use one word to describe her today it would be EXHAUSTING!

Mommy and Daddy love you sweet girl!

Cheese, Cheese and More Cheese

Animal Sounds

Just Because

So NOT Ready For This

I was so ready when it came time to deliver Eleanor. Or at least as ready as any first time mom could be for the experience of labor and delivery. I was ready when we brought her home from the hospital and when we moved her from the bassinet to the crib. I was ready when Eleanor slept in her own room and no longer slept in the pack-n-play in our room. I was kind of ready when we put her in the nursery at church for the very first time and when she took her first steps. I was even kind of ready for toddlerhood. Although I must admit I have shed a few tears on more than a few occasions as I realize that my baby is no longer a baby but a little girl. But one thing I was definitely not ready for was this......
...the day we would transition from a crib to a toddler bed. I had hoped we would be able to make it until her 2nd birthday before we would have to even consider this. However, in true Kamikaze style, Eleanor decided that 18 months of sleeping in a crib was long enough and it was time for her to be free. Just two days ago while I was hanging clothes in her closet Kamikaze "climbed" out of her crib for the first time. Later that evening she tried again and yesterday morning as well. Daniel decided the crib would be converted to a bed before nap time. I was and am so NOT ready for this. We toddler proofed the room as much as we could and made the change. The transition has not been seamless but definitely smoother than I anticipated.

Testing it out with "pa" (paci) and "night night" (her lovey).

Bedtime - she cried for about 5 minutes and when I peeked in 20 minutes later this is what we found. She had also fallen asleep on the floor during nap time.
This is what I found today at nap time. Hopefully she will get the hang of falling asleep in the bed soon.

Eyob and Ephrem

Over the weekend I had the amazing privilege of welcoming home two precious little boys. My sweet friend Amy and her husband Mike traveled to Ethiopia last week to bring home their sons. What a wonderful time it was as friends and family gathered at O'hare Airport to welcome this new family of four home.

Eyob (John) and Ephrem (Ryan) are absolutely adorable and I cannot wait for Eleanor to have a play date with them. I think they are going to be great friends.Eyob

Ephrem

Wordless Wednesday or Baby It's Cold Outside

18 Months

Wordless Wednesday

17 months old

Mommy forgot to post my 17 month picture. I will be 18 months old soon so I told her she needed to post it today. I was in Florida at my NaNa's house when I turned 17 months old. Mommy wanted to take a picture of me with NaNa and my best dog friend Kiefer. She tried real hard to get one of all of us looking at the camera but this is the best one she got.

Bow Head

Eleanor wore a bow in her hair today for the very first time. Now to all my big bow making mommy friends out there no comments on the size of this bow. We were just excited that we could actually get one to stay in her hair.

I love this picture!

C is for Cookies

Last night I made the best sugar cookies I have ever had. OK, maybe not better than the iced sugar cookies at Celebrity Bakery, but these cookies were pretty darn close. I received PW's cookbook for my birthday and have set out to try every recipe in the book. The recipe says it makes 18 cookies but I think this is a typo because my cookies were just the right size and I had enough dough for 48. Yum, yum!

Eleanor's Funny Side

I'm not sure what to call this face. Normally she does this when I tickle her, but this time she thought getting her photo taken was really funny.

Going Private

Our blog will be going private at the end of the month. If you would like an invite to continue reading our blog please leave a comment with your email address or send me an email if you have my address. We want everyone to be able to continue to keep up with our family but also want to make sure we are protecting our little one in the process.

Little Snow Bunny

Today, Eleanor played in the snow for the very first time. Her initial reaction was uncertainty but after a while I think she really enjoyed herself. She is definitely the cutest little snow bunny I have ever seen.

16 Months and the Red Chair

E is now 16 months old. It is hard to believe our baby is well into toddlerhood. Here are some fun facts about E.

* She still will not eat any type of meat. It does not matter how it is cooked or how hard I try to hide it in a dish she will spit it out.
* She knows the signs for all done, thank you, more, milk, eat, bath and baby.
* She also has about 20 words. It is amazing how quickly her vocabulary is growing.
* She continues to love to read. Her current favorites are The Little Train and Rudolph's Bright Christmas.
* She loves music and dancing.
* When daddy or mommy are on the laptop and she wants our attention she will walk up and close the laptop.
* She loves to Skype with her grandparents and will stand in front of the laptop and say "hi" even when no one is there.
* She also is obsessed with the cell phone and TV remotes.
* She has recently become very much a momma's girl and even though she calls for daddy all day long when he is at school or work she still clings to momma when he comes home.
* She loves her new red chair, a Christmas gift from GiGi and Pops. She likes to sit in there and watch Praise Baby or Baby Einstein. She also likes to put her baby in the chair and all of the animals from Noah's Ark.

We continue to be blessed by our sweet girl and look forward to what this month holds!

I Love My Aunt

Dear Aunt Beth,

I had a lot of fun playing with you while I was in Dallas for Thanksgiving. I miss you and wish you lived closer. Come visit me soon!

Love,
Eleanor