Friday, May 17, 2013

Lazy Mornings and Rubbish Trucks









I love a good lazy morning. Eleanor... not usually. She'd rather be outside as soon as she can get her shoes on. Which usually happens right after breakfast, although she'd prefer for it to be beforehand. The highlight of her Wednesday and Saturday mornings is to watch the rubbish truck(I think I'll still use this term over garbage or trash even after we move back to the mainland. It's just more fun.) drive down our street. The second she hears it, she runs to the window and demands to be picked up so she can see it. Now, she's discovered a way to watch it without the help of anyone else. While it's not the safest option out there, it sure is pretty cute.




Saturday, May 04, 2013

Cell Phone Videos GALORE

For all you Eleanor obsessed fans like me, sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy.













A Few Familiar Faces







While living out on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has it's benefits, it also has drawbacks. There are days where I am very aware how very far away I am from family and friends. Yes, we do have friends here, but sometimes I like to be reminded that there is still life outside of the island.

And that is why I LOVE visitors! I love seeing familiar faces. It is so refreshing to me. Chelsey and Tanya, both Grayson friends, came within a week of each other. Chelsey and I go way back and have far too many funny stories together. While her visit was short, it was fun. She is fun. Come back already Chels! And bring your cute kids!!

Speaking of cute kids, Tanya has the cutest kids! So fun to meet them and see them in person after seeing so many pictures of them and their fancy life in London. My favorite quote from her visit was from her daugheter Natalie. A wave had taken in her SUP board she was playing with, and she yelled "My gondola!!". So funny! It was so great to see you and catch up, Tanya! 

Friday, April 26, 2013

18 Months - Happy Half Birthday!




















And just like that, she's a year and a half. She is becoming such a little person. A personality all of her own. Where do I even start!?

Every morning when I get her from her crib, she likes to empty out all of her "friends" as well. So I bend over and take out her bear, monkey, baby doll, lamb, Minnie, and whoever else joined her that night. I hold her and all the toys, and then she throws them all back in the crib.

I've never seen anyone eat yogurt as fast as she does. I will give it to her, walk out of the room for a minute, and when I get back, the cup is empty, she has thrown the spoon out, and is scraping every last bit out with her fingers.

One of the funniest things to her these days are fake sneezes. She will randomly start doing it, and then laugh at herself. One night we went to dinner with a friend, and she started doing it to try to make our friend laugh. She was such a show off!

Once she is done eating breakfast - or sometimes even before breakfast - she goes to the door and starts shouting "Oww oww oww oww", really fast, while signing 'outside'. The girl loves to be outside. As of late, her favorite thing to do is go see the neighbor's cages of pigeons.

She has started talking a lot! Some of the words are: ball, please, outside, baby, up, down, boo!, cracker, dog, and I love you(this one is the cutest. I say "I love you Eleanor", and she follows up with "umm um mama". There are more, but I can't quite think of all of them.

She likes to sit in the fridge while she eats her snacks. I don't blame her. It's usually pretty hot in this house.

She is already starting to recognize numbers and letters, thanks to the signing time videos and a few of her books and bath toys. The bath toys are what impress me the most. I'll ask her to find certain letters, and 9 times out of 10, she gets it right(I usually only ask her the ones I know she knows. About 8 different letters and 3 numbers).

She loves Frosty the Snowman. Maybe it's because snow is such a foreign concept to her, or maybe she just likes the songs and dancing. Who knows.

She knows her way around my phone and can navigate to my photo gallery/videos. She will scroll through them, then double tap the play button to play videos of herself. It is so funny seeing a tiny human understand technology.

She likes to stack things. Mostly her blocks and bath toys, but she's actually pretty good at it. There are times when I think Oh no, it's definitely about to topple, and then it doesn't. And then she stacks 3 more on top of it. Impressive.

She can get so sassy that the idea of the terrible twos is actually quite terrifying to me. If she doesn't get her way, she will throw her body all over the place and scream. Oh so dramatic.

She knows no stranger. She isn't afraid to approach anybody.

Just lately she has become such the water baby. Before, she used to spend most of her time playing in the sand, but now she heads straight for the water every time. Even in her clothes and shoes. She tries to jump over waves. She'll stand backwards and wait for the water to hit her feet. She plays, plays, plays, in the water, and it's so fun to watch.

In the middle of writing this, Eleanor woke up(doesn't usually happen, but tonight she went to bed later than normal, and that ALWAYS throws her off). I tried to go in w/o picking her up and just talk to her, and sing to her until she went back to sleep. Spencer does it all the time and it works great. Not with me. She jumps up and down while screaming and asking to be picked "UP!". I walked out a few times to see if she'd soothe herself on her own. Didn't happen. After 3 tries, I finally picked her up and rocked her until she calmed down. Then, when I thought she was asleep, she popped her head up, took her pacifier out, and gave be a big kiss on the lips. Not only did it melt my heart right then and there, but it made me feel so guilty for every other second I made her cry. It's good to know she appreciates me!

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Eleanor's Easter

































That's a lot of Easter pictures, but like I said before, I have selection issues.

These holidays are getting more and more fun the older Eleanor gets. Both for her as well as Spencer and me. When I told Spencer I was going to hide eggs in the backyard for her, he kind of rolled his eyes and told me he didn't think she'd get it. Once we took her out and explained/showed her what to do, she couldn't be stopped. She practically ran to every egg, then threw it in her basket and went off to find the next one. Once she was done, I asked her if she wanted to do it again, to which she replied by nodding her head. Then we repeated all of that FOUR times.

Easter morning was fun as well. Amazing how different things are since last Easter. A lot of things that were supposed to go in her basket ended up being used ahead of time. Like some books and a dvd. The main gift was a cute little purse with a cell phone, wallet, lipstick, etc. She loved the phone and talked and laughed on it for a long time. Her eggs were stuffed with blueberries, grapes, and goldfish. Yeah, yeah, you can make fun of me and call me 'that mom', but those are her favorite things! And she stuffed her hands inside those eggs until she got every last one and stuffed them all in her mouth at the same time. She had one jackpot of an egg filled with mini cadburry eggs, but she mostly just played with those - didn't even eat them.

The only reason I bought her Easter dress was because I love this color on her. I've always liked this color on her since she was born. I don't know if the necklace was hers or Spencer's idea, but she wore it the whole three hours of church - and more.

Our family picture was taken AFTER church, which means clothes were wrinkled, makeup worn off, hair flat, and faces messy(ok, I think Eleanor was the only one with a messy face).

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter Sunday and spent time with those you love. Every Easter I can't help but think of my trip to Israel and seeing the empty tomb for myself. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Jesus lives, and He loves us all. Happy Easter.