Baby's First Halloween!

Shawn got a pic of me in action w/ both girls this morning! Ashton was getting a bottle + EA was wanting to 'help' me hold the bottle... j/k, she was grabbing + crawling up me!! They were both ready for their morning naps!
Time to play again... We dressed her in the 'Baby's First Halloween' outfit that her 'Aunt Mary' (Petrandis) sent her! As I've said before, we really enjoy dressing her up + since we're going to 'Story Time' today, I thought this outfit would be perfect!!

Playing w/ her mirror... she's really loving 'the pretty baby' she sees smiling back @ her!

Just singing away while... going from sitting, to crawling position, to belly, to plank, then to downward facing dog! I can tell she learned something in utero while I did yoga until the week of delivery!!

Discipline + Redirection?! :)

Today Elsie Anne was helping me fold the laundry! I put a big pile on our bed + in between cuddling, loving + rolling around w/ EA, I managed to get it done! At one point while I was hugging her, she got a firm grasp on the back of my arm + pinched the snot out of me. I said, "Ouch EA, that hurt Mamma. No thank you." As I was finishing my sentence, she pinched my neck! I said, "Ouch EA, gentle fingers!" She did this 2 more times + each time I told her "no thank you" but each time her reaction was... HUGE GUMMY GRIN! It seemed that she was so proud of herself for getting a reaction from me... of course I couldn't hold my stern face + started cracking up @ the end of it all! And after getting a few red marks all over me, I finally wised up + got her busy doing something else! This just got me thinking... its going to be really hard to DISCIPLINE our little princess when the time comes... she's so darn cute!

This is a little video I took before her afternoon nap today... her new trick is pulling up on the side of her crib! She still can't get from laying down to sitting, so I haven't dropped her crib down yet, but I'm sure that will be soon w/ the rate that she's developing!! Notice, also, her mimicing my cough... she's a real copy cat these days!

Since she didn't do much dancing... I have to add this video too! This was on Saturday morning!

The Skeleton Family

We thought we were going to have a festive Saturday, going to a Pumpkin Festival in Georgetown, but those plans quickly changed when we learned we had to take the train to the pumpkin patch site. Call us cheap, but we didn't want to spend $26/each just to take pics w/ pumpkins! We'll find another patch sooner or later! In any case, we loved having our skull + skeleton shirts on! We ended up walking through the Breckenridge cemetery + seeing graves from the mid-late 1800's. We got our creepy fix + then went to 'Eric's' to watch the Seminoles!
The Skeleton Family... aren't we festive!!!
One of Elsie Anne's favorite toys are straws! We also learned that she loves knawing on cold celery! She wouldn't put it down... she went from one hand to the other, chewing on each end!

EA getting a ton of sugar from Daddy!

After poor Bobby lost his 4th game in a row, we went next door to 'Motherloaded', danced to a few Johny Cash songs + then headed home to put EA in her crib! It was a late night, but EA was a trooper, as always!!
Daddy + EA dancing to 'Ring of Fire'... she couldn't take her eyes off Justin, who was singing + playing the guitar!
Hopefully next weekend we can find some pumpkins! Its ridiculous there's no Pumpkin Patch in Summit County... just pumpkins you can buy @ WalMart + the grocery store?!

Baby Elephant...

Maybe I should've waited to 'unveil' Elsie Anne's Halloween Costume, but I just can't resist, she is just TOO CUTE! We will for sure be wearing this more than just on Halloween day!!

OMG... I want to EAT HER UP! This whole Halloween thing, w/ a kid, is SO MUCH FUN!!!
I'm going to put a purple bow on one (or both) of her ears... I don't want anyone saying, "he's so cute"! I think we made the perfect choice for her first Halloween Costume!!!

Look @ the fingernails + toenails... so precious!

Little Scarecrow...

We are loving October + all its festive gear! EA has accumulated quite a few Halloween outfits, so don't be surprised to see her in orange over + over this month! We love dressing her up! This outfit came from BumBum (gr.granma) + is a little scarecrow!

Elsie Anne practicing her crawling position!
The practice paid off... she did this all on her own from sitting! I love catching 'firsts' w/ the camera!

Yes, this sweet little outfit has a hat to match! Its too cute when she gets 'lost' in hats...

We had a playdate @ Kristin + Jake's house today! We went for a walk until it started snowing on us, then had some yummy spinach artichoke dip + white wine! A nice early happy hour for the Mommy's!! Jake's such a sweety... he is 5mo + 20lbs... he's going to be a line-backer! He makes EA look like a peanut, but I guess she IS a peanut :)

Reading a nite-nite book + missing Daddy. He is working @ Eric's tonight, but we'll get to hang w/ him all weekend, yay! So excited tomorrow is Friday, hmmm what should we do?!

Good Morning Sunshine!!

Our little 'Peanut' slept all through the night!!! She woke up @ 2:30am, but went right back down... that counts, right?! We are so proud of her... and hope it continues for a while, we'll see :)

Elsie Anne is waiting patiently for her breakfast... Organic Pears + Oatmeal! I've got to say I'm proud of myself for continuing to make her baby food! Its a lot of fun + I feel like I'm still controlling what goes in her little body! She is pretty much done breastfeeding... she only wants it in the middle of the night. So, if she starts sleeping through the night, than I think she's all done.
Here is her 'snooker' look... she's blowing in + out of her nose... it's the funniest look + noise!

Another angle of the 'snooker'!!

Yay! New Camera!

We are so HAPPY to have our new camera!!

Elsie Anne loved climbing on her Halloween Costume box! She's going to be a baby elephant! And... I'm just getting a little sugar. There she goes... getting her legs turned around so she can stand on her knees!! I'll have to get a 'crawling' picture tomorrow!

Tubby time! She now climbs + turns around in her little tub!
Getting all lotioned up! EA has to have something keeping her busy @ all times... tonight it was Daddy's belt!

Can't wait to get some more blogging material tomorrow!

NO CAMERA... ITS KILLING ME!

I know I'm extremely behind on my updates... I still have to blog on our Florida trip, but so much has happened since then that I feel overwhelmed! We haven't received our new camera yet, so we've been videoing a lot + those take much longer to upload, so I haven't done it yet :(

Elsie Anne turned 7mo on the 3rd... once again, I found myself wondering where the time went! She is hilarious... her personality comes out more every day! She does a new noise or face almost every day... when we do it back to her, she laughs + repeats it herself!

This past weekend we had a blast watching football, enjoying the fall weather + just hanging out as a family! EA dressed up in her FSU cheerleading outfit on Saturday... even though it did not bring us any luck :( Then on Sunday we took her to Jake's Dive Bar to show off the Bengal's cheerleading outfit Rueben had gotten her! She was the hit of the bar... as she always is, but this time she really hammed it up! Rueben took pics of the two of them that they will blow up + frame right next to 'Jake the dog'! She is officially the NEW MASCOT of Jake's Dive Bar... funny that we are so proud of that!

Yesterday, she was sitting in her crib, as I was hanging up her clothes. While I was turned around for a split second, she had pulled herself up to a standing position holding on to the side of her crib!!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes... I didn't know whether to cry or cheer... I ended up doing both!!! She was so happy to see my reaction, she just kept wiggling + dancing around as she held on tight! I was able to snap a few pics w/ my camera phone! We practiced it a few more times + when Daddy got home she was able to show him her new trick!

Today, we practiced her crawling... she has been liking rocking back + forth in the crawl position. She had so much fun as Shawn rolled a ball out in front of her, then moved her arms + legs to go get it! We made a huge deal when she got to the ball + she'd just smile + was so proud! A few times she moved a leg or arm on her own... + right now, as I type, she is trying to get herself from her belly to all fours! I think its going to be any day that she takes off on her own... AAHHHH! We've got a lot of baby-proofing to do in the few weeks!!

I promise I'll get some Florida trip posted soon...