EASTER (a little late)

Peter is all involved in law school finals right now so Eleanor and I barely see him at all these days. Therefore, Easter weekend was great because we got to spend time as a family. Thursday Peter and I went to the Pioneer Theater Company's performance of "Laughing Stock" and then on Friday we went Skiing. Peter's mom and sister babysat, and we were so grateful for some time together. Easter Sunday was filled with good food and fun family togetherness.

Eleanor in her Easter dress!

Easter Jammies!!

I'm excited for next year when Eleanor can search for eggs and get excited about candy. But this Easter was so great with my little family! =D

Giggling and Rolling Over

Oh my...she is growing up so fast, I can't even believe it.

Isn't this just the cutest?! =D

First Time Skiing

I have always hated snow...always. I just really don't like being cold, and even though snowball fights and building snowmen are supposed to be fun, I ALWAYS end up getting snow down my shirt, or my pants, or in my shoes and socks and I HATE that. Peter on the other hand really enjoys the snow and has been wanting me to ski basically since we met. He thought that I would transform into a snow lover once I learned to ski. I have been avoiding this for our entire marriage until a couple of weeks ago when Peter's dad took us on a ski trip.

I was really nervous about skiing and NOT excited about it at all. I thought I would be freezing the entire time and I knew I would be falling all over the place unavoidably getting snow down my shirt, pants, and into my shoes and socks. I was dreading it. Peter, Peter's dad, and Erika (Peter's sisters) were all very upbeat and positive about the idea of me skiing. They all wanted me to have a great time and encouraged me the entire day. They were so awesome and really helped make the experience a good one.

The first thing I did was sign up for a beginner's lesson. I really felt like I would be so lost in this lesson, but honestly it was not that hard. It definitely lived up to its title: beginner. We didn't even really learn to turn. We mastered putting on the skis, standing up, how to fall, and stopping, which are all very important things to learn, of course. But I was feeling pretty bored by the end and pretty excited to learn some more. After my lesson I met back up with Peter and his family and we decided to hit some of the easier slopes. I was feeling a little cocky about my skills (stupid, I know) and the first thing I did when we got off the ski lift was fly down the mountain out of control and eat it. Yes, I did get snow down my shirt, pants, and into my socks and shoes. I decided to slow down a bit and take a few more lessons from Peter and his family. The rest of the day went like this: I took it slow and easy and made good progress, I started to feel a little better about my skills and decided to take it a little faster and riskier, I flew down the mountain, out of control, and ate it (usually taking other skiers down with me).

All-in-all it was a REALLY fun day. I wasn't cold at all (it was actually really hot), I didn't hate the snow, and I actually really enjoyed skiing. I have some pretty awesome bruises and I could barely get out of bed the next morning, but I am really looking forward to the next time I get to ski. Thank you Kerns for being patient, sharing your skills with me, and helping me enjoy Utah a little more. =D

YEAH! We're ready!!

This illustrates Peter's skill level...and my skill level. Haha.

I did this...a lot...

This bruise is on my upper thigh...it looked SO much worse in real life. Ouch. HaHa.

3 Months

 My baby girl,

You have really grown up a lot this month. Seriously, sometimes I look at you and wonder what happened to my little baby. Your face is so much more grown up and you act like you know exactly what is going on at all times. Now, when you babble, it sounds like you have something really important to say and you need everyone to pay attention. It is so cute.

Your absolute favorite thing to do is look at, play with, suck on, and eat your hands. I can put you down on your boppy and you will just lay there looking at your hands for hours...it's great. =D You especially like to examine them while I am signing to you, I expect your first sign will happen soon.

You are still sleeping great! Between 9 and 11 hours a night. However, your naps aren't as productive as they use to be. You love to be swaddled, in fact you will not sleep without being swaddled. Problem is, you are getting too big for your swaddlers now, so you are constantly breaking out of them and waking yourself up. I guess it is time to wean you off your swddlers...but I think it might be a long and nightmare-ish process. (If anyone has any suggestions on how to transition from swaddling to not swaddling, that would be wonderful!) You are smiling SO much now...especially when we come to get you out of your crib, you flash the hugest, cutest smile, it makes my heart melt.

You learned to roll over this month! However, you only do it when you want to. One day you rolled over, tummy to back right and left, about 12 times. We were sure you would be rolling over all the time after that. But then we would try and show your trick to other people and you refused to do it. Now, you just roll over every once in awhile when you want to...I am not even convinced you really know how to do it, I think it just happens sometimes. HaHa.

You got your cast off this month (hopefully for good) and your foot is looking a lot better. You also went on two vacations. We went to Bryce Canyon for Peter and I's two year anniversary and you did so great. We got a little front backpack thing and hiked with you. You just slept the entire time, I think you loved being so close and snuggly with daddy. Your second vacation was to Arizona to see Savanna (former roommate) get married. On the way home you got to go to Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, Wupatki, The Grand Canyon, and Four Corners. You have already been to 4 states in 3 months! We had tons of fun, even though you weren't very happy some of the time, all-in-all you were wonderfully behaved.

You seriously light up our lives little girl. We love having you in our family even though everything in our house, including us, is constantly covered in spit-up. We love you more than you will ever know.

1 Week       3 Weeks       1 Month       2 Months

Eleanor's Baby Blessing

Sunday (February 19th) was a wonderful day for our little family. First of all, it was Peter and I's two year anniversary! I can't believe it has already been two years. Secondly, we had Eleanor blessed at church. It was an amazing day filled with happiness, family, and friends! Peter gave Eleanor a beautiful blessing and it was so fun to celebrate with that blessing with the people we love.

Sometimes it is really hard to get a 2-month old to take a happy picture. Even though she is not smiling in any of these, she is still super cute!! =D

I promise, she really is a happy child!!

I LOVE the yawning picture! She is such a doll.

After the blessing we had a little lunch back at my apartment. Thank you to Ashley, Erika, Tyler and especially Kathie (Peter's mom) for all your help with the lunch! It turned out really cute and really yummy!! Thank you so much to everyone who took time to come to Eleanor's blessing, we really appreciate it. And to those who weren't able to make it (mainly my family) thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers, we missed you. We love you all!

YUM! =D

We had a table with sweets, pictures and little things related to Eleanor's life so far. That is her very first cast...I can't believe she has grown so much already!

Thank you Janssen for the cute garland idea!

Idea from: this blog via pinterest

We used her cast as the guestbook for everyone to sign. It makes it much more colorful and fun! =D

Eleanor is such a blessing in our lives. She has the sweetest little spirit and bring us so much joy. I can't imagine our lives without her and I am so glad we are blessed enough to raise such an amazing little girl. We love her so much and thank Heavenly Father for her every single day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you all share this day with someone you love. Sadly, Peter has to work tonight, bummer. But at least I get to spend today with my little girl. 

Eleanor and I had a blast taking pictures for Peter! I have the best daughter and husband in the world, I couldn't ask for anything more.

2 Months

This month has been so fun! You are really starting to develop a personality and it is a blast to watch. You make a new noise every single day and have started babbling more and more. You love to gurgle and squeal. You also love to copy mommy and daddy when we stick our tongues out at you, it is so cute. This month you started sleeping between 7 and 10 (that has only happened once and it was wonderful) hours at night and we absolutely love you for it. You have also started to consciously smile at us, yay! You smile at daddy a lot more than you smile at mommy, especially when he speaks French to you. We think your first word will most likely be a French word, you seem to love it.

Sadly, you had to go get that darned cast back on your leg and this time you hated it so much. You cried harder and louder than you have ever cried before and made mommy want to cry right along with you. Fortunately, you got use to the cast within a few days and now you are enjoying your scooting powers again. We frequently go into your room to find you have scooted all the way into the corner of your crib and have gotten stuck there.

You spit up constantly, hence the spit up spot in the picture above, and your favorite times to spit up are right after I get you dressed for the day, and right after I finish giving you a bath. You eat between 4 and 6 ounces every 3 to 4 hours and you have the cutest cheeks and double chin to show for it. You love music and calm right down when I sing to you. You are starting to focus on our faces more and more and love looking at black and white pictures and shapes. You are so fun to cuddle with and frequently take naps in the lazy boy with mommy or daddy because we just don't want to go put you in your crib.

We are excited to get you blessed soon and love watching you grow more and more every day. We don't know what we would do without you, we love you so much!

Weight: 11 pounds 5 ounces - 53rd percentile
Height: 22.25 inches - 41st percentile
Head: 15.5 inches - 84th percentile

1 Month post