APRIL STUFF

Sorry for the uncreative title, but that's exactly what this post will be...April stuff!

1. Eleanor is learning to sit up.


2. Eleanor jumps so hard in her Jumperoo that her socks come off.



3. Eleanor has discovered her feet.




She even likes to chew on them :)


4. Eleanor likes to play XBox.


5. Andrew's parents came in town for Easter.


We took them to the John Johnson Farm in Hiram, Ohio. Andrew and I went right before Eleanor was born. And there was something even more special this time around actually having her there with us. It is just a neat place and the spirit is so strong.


It was nice to have someone around to take some family pictures of the three of us. We also were able to take some on Easter Sunday. Andrew had to give a talk, which he was a little nervous about because it was just going to be him, a youth speaker and a couple of musical numbers. He did a great job and we had a lovely Easter Sunday.

6. Eleanor and I went down to Cincinnati to visit my sister Jessica. My mom, little sister and little brother also drove up from Louisiana for their spring break. So Eleanor got to see lots of family. Sadly, the only picture I took was this one of my nephew Ethan. random, right?

I think Jessica got some pictures while we were all out huddling in my mom's van when we got locked out. I'll have to get those from her. **she just updated her blog, click here and scroll down for a picture and story. **

7. Spring has sprung! Both yesterday and today the weather has been awesome!! I was able to dig out some summery clothes for Eleanor.

"no pictures please"

"ok, maybe one or two"


We went to the park and had a BBQ with some friends from the ward. Here is Eleanor swinging on the swings, she was loving it!





And that's about all we've been up to. Next week is Eleanor's half birthday so stay tuned for her 6 month stats and pictures.

Mmm Mmm Good!

So call me a bad mom, but Eleanor usually just wears her pajamas to church on Sundays. It's just easier that way and I'm sure it's much more comfy. Plus she just hangs out with Andrew during Sunday School and Priesthood while I'm in nursery so it just makes it easier for Andrew so he doesn't have to worry about keeping her dress clean or keeping a bow in her hair or whatever. Well this morning we had some extra time before church so I thought I'd dress up my little girly bug for church.
Here is the end result...




Don't you just love all those little rolls on her arms?

In other news, here is Eleanor on a little walk today. We got some nice weather last week, but it looks like we will have some cold and rainy weather for the next week or so.


Ok, so just a little shout out to my sister Jessica for introducing me to the Once Upon a Child. Love this place. It's a second hand shop for kid and baby stuff. Well I was in the market for a nice high chair because Eleanor's chubby little legs don't really fit in the bumbo seat anymore. I wasn't willing to spend 100 bucks on a high chair, but I was willing to take a hand-me-down so I headed to Once Upon a Child and found a nice Graco one in really good shape. I got it for only 25 bucks, probably originally like $100. Not bad, right? So thanks Jessica for the education.

Now that Eleanor has a high chair to eat it, she's been able to try out other kinds of baby food besides rice cereal. Now she's had green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peaches, pears, applesauce, bananas, prunes, and baby oatmeal. Her favorite vegetable seems to be carrots and her favorite fruit is bananas. And she prefers the oatmeal to the rice cereal. She must have gotten sick of all the rice pudding I ate while I was pregnant with her.

Here's a video of her eating some oatmeal.

And here she is having some peaches. She's still not quite sure if she likes them or not.

And Freddie, this is for you...
proof that sometimes she does cry...

One last thing. Eleanor snapped this self-portrait of herself so you can all have a sneak peak at her Easter dress. I just couldn't pass up the Spring sale at Gymboree, plus every little girl needs a new Easter dress, right? And I figured she could wear it when I finally take her in and get a professional portrait taken next month for her 6 month birthday.

CHEESE!

5 MONTHS OLD!

Eleanor is 5 months old this week! She is getting so big. At her doctor's appointment last week she weighed 16 pounds and was 26 1/4 inches.

So I'm usually not into the whole big flower bows thing, but I found one for pretty cheap, so I thought it would at least be fun for playing dress up. I have to admit, the second I put it on Eleanor I thought it was the cutest thing ever! I couldn't resist snapping some shots of her. Here our some of my favorites...

What a little cutie! She is so much fun and I am so thankful to have such a sweet, fun, easy, happy, healthy baby girl! We really love her a lot and are so happy she's in our family!

Time flies

It's official, Eleanor's going bald. I didn't realize how much more hair she used to have until I saw some older pictures flash on Andrew's screensaver on his laptop.

2 days old...

2 weeks old...

2 months old...

3 months old...

And then, all of a sudden, no hair
4 1/2 months old...

I still think she's pretty cute :)

Today I thought I'd take some video of my little cutie just doing normal everyday things.
First is a video of her when she wakes up. She's usually more smiley but she's been kind of sick the last couple of days.

Here's a video after she was all done eating dinner.

And there you have it, a day in the life of Eleanor.

Happy Birthday Muffy!

Today is my sister Laura's 21st birthday!
Laura and I got to be together at BYU for a little over a year...we had so much fun together. I miss hanging out with you!








Laura is so much fun and always has a smile on her face!!


Here she is with little Eleanor...

I love you! Hope you have a fun day!!

Mardi Gras Mambo

Eleanor and I escaped snowy Ohio and went home to New Orleans last week. I was a little nervous to travel alone with her and I was too cheap to pay to check my baggage, so I had to lug my suitcase and diaper bag and baby around the airports all by myself. Eleanor did really well and people (NOT the flight attendants, they weren't helpful at all but that's another story for another day) were pretty good about helping me put my bag overhead when boarding the plane.

We were there for Mardi Gras and my little brother's birthday. We had so much fun and I REALLY enjoyed wearing flip flops all week. Our church is on St. Charles Avenue, the street all the parades pass on, so we got to hang out there with friends and bbq and watch the parades. Here is a glimpse of what a mardi gras parade is like...
It's weird to think that the whole city shuts down meanwhile, the rest of the world has to go to work and school! Gotta love the big easy.
More pictures...
(lots of people dress up on mardi gras day)




Ok, Andrew said I have to explain these because he had no idea what the deal was when he saw them. Basically people make these ladders with a seat on them for little kids. Ideally, an adult stands behind the kid and they yell for beads and just hang out during the parade.



My sister Amy with Eleanor

Eleanor really got into mardi gras :)

For my little brother Jacob's birthday we got crawfish and went to the park to chow down. It's not quite crawfish season so they were pretty little. But they were still DELICIOUS! mmmm mmmmm.

We also went and picked him out some new glasses and Eleanor thought she'd pick out a pair, too.

We finally came home and had ice cream cake to celebrate Jacob's 12th birthday!

We had such a fun time and were sad to leave, BUT happy to get back to Andrew who had to go to school all week while we were gone playing.

On a side note, here is a little video of Eleanor. I tried to get a video of her sucking on her bottom lip, a new trick she's being doing lately.