waiting

So this is kind of a nothing post. Certain family members want more pictures :) Unfortunately what you see here is all we've taken recently. So here goes....

I'll start with a really cute picture that I found from our trip to North Carolina that I never posted.

Eleanor in the bathtub (she is learning how to smile for the camera-kind of). And don't worry we don't use that spatula in our kitchen anymore, it melted and Eleanor decided it would be a fun bath toy.

Next up, I know you're all dying to see what I looked like at 37 weeks :) Sweat pants are the only thing that fit me right now (name that movie).

I'm now 38 weeks and I've been 3cm dilated since my last appointment at 37 weeks. Exciting to think it could be any day, but I guess I could just stay like that for another 3 weeks. Eleanor was almost a week late and 9 lb and 4 oz, so hopefully this one comes a little sooner and a little smaller! Now we just play the waiting game. The name we've picked out for her means patience, so hopefully I can learn a thing or two about patience as I wait for her arrival! I'm a pretty patient person when it comes to my interactions with other people, but I'm not very patient when it comes to things (like electronics, traffic, waiting for events, not knowing when things will happen, stuff like that). I'm hoping this little one will just be all around patient, I think that's a great trait to have! When do you think our baby girl will get here and will she be as big as Eleanor was??

Back to Eleanor...here she is on her first day of swim lessons. Doesn't she look excited??


To help kill some time while we wait for baby, we decided to put her in some swim lessons at the university rec center. One of us has to be in the water with her, but I don't really mind, it's nice to get a little physical activity and being in the water really makes me feel much lighter. My only other source of exercise comes from going up and down the stairs at our house to use the bathroom about 19 times a day. We don't have a bathroom on our main floor, just upstairs and in the basement, so that's been my justification of a work out for the past 9 months :)

And here's one more shot of Eleanor in the pool at her swim class. She hasn't necessarily learned how to swim, but I guess the goal is to make the kids feel more comfortable in the water. She's gotten pretty good at just floating around on a noodle. She also really likes to pick up rings from under the water.

Here's a video of Eleanor talking on the "phone". These days she turns just about anything into a phone and has a full conversation with whoever is on the other end. I tried to catch her doing it, but once she saw me she stopped. Notice her great fashion sense, too. She chose her bracelet and necklace all by herself for the day. And she even did her own hair.

She cleans up pretty cute, I think! We discovered a little nature center at playgroup this week and she was loving it.

So Emily, there you have it :) There are some pictures of what we've been up to lately.

Let's hope my next post has some pictures of a newborn!

oh what do you do in the summertime

We've been staying pretty busy this summer. Here's a rundown of what we've been up to. On Friday, June 25th Andrew's work had a party at the Akron Aero's baseball game. After the game there were fireworks, so we got our fill before the 4th of July.

Yes, this is my child, sippy cup in one hand, diet pepsi in the other.

Eleanor loved hanging out with her besties Katherine and Jared.

We celebrated Andrew's birthday the next day and went to Benihana's. If you haven't joined their birthday club, you really should. You get $30 off your meal during your birthday month. We went for Lunch. So we were both able to pig out for just the cost of my meal, about 8 bucks.

On Monday, the day after Andrew's bday we got together with some friends at the park for some cake and ice cream. This picture kind of looks like Andrew hijacked some kids birthday party because he's surrounded by all the little kids. :)


Eleanor has discovered trains, and she loves them. Andrew's parents sent us home with a bunch of Andrew's old toys, including some trains and train tracks. This has been Eleanor's go to toy ever since we got back from North Carolina which is fine with me because it has really kept her attention! This is a video of one of the first times we set it up. She's gotten much better at putting it together by herself (kind of) and moving the trains around.

Last weekend for 4th of July we went out to a little man made beach with some friends and then went to a BBQ afterward. Eleanor was too tired so we headed home before the fireworks. My camera died, so these are the only shots I got of the day.


Earlier this week we went up to the Cleveland Science center with some friends. It was a really fun place. They had a whole preschool area, which is where we spent the majority of our time. Eleanor really got a kick out of this contraption and loved putting the balls in and watching them roll all the way down.

She is just growing up so much and learning so much everyday!

I can't wait to see her be a big sister... Just about 4 weeks left (but who's counting??)

Beach Trip

We just got back from a trip to North Carolina to visit Andrew's parents. They live in Wilmington, which is on the coast, so they are close to a lot of different beaches. We visited three different beaches while we were there and we loved every minute of it! This post will probably just be pictures, I don't really have much to say except that we had a really great time, and it was so nice to relax and be spoiled by Andrew's parents.

Day 1 -- We went to Sunset beach. I was pretty sure Eleanor would like the beach, but that is an understatement...she LOVED the beach, everything about it!



Have I mentioned Eleanor loves carrying things around? Purses and buckets are right up her alley.

Here's a video of Eleanor playing in the water. I tried to get a video of when she was super excited about all the waves, but you know how it goes, when you want to get a picture or video of something in particular, it usually doesn't happen. But I still think it's pretty cute to watch her.


Day 2 -- We went to a blueberry festival. I didn't get many pictures, but basically we just walked around and looked at little booths of people selling crafts and your typical festival food. I think we picked the hottest day of the year to be outside...there were people sitting down everywhere trying to fix their heat exhaustion and dehydration. I had several people tell me to make sure and drink plenty of water and sit down, I thought that was pretty thoughtful of them to look out for the big pregnant lady.

Here's Eleanor cooling off by the misting fans.

We also went to the aquarium in Kure Beach. Eleanor was really mesmerized by the alligators.


Here's a video of Eleanor exploring...


And, like I said, it was really hot outside so here we are in all are sweaty glory! Luckily when we were done with the aquarium we headed down to Kure Beach to cool off. Since it was later in the day it wasn't crowded at all.


Day 4 -- We went and walked around downtown Wilmington and got some ice cream at a favorite local shop. I think I can safely say it was the best waffle cone I've ever had.

Eleanor really just wanted to get in the water.



Day 4 -- We went down to Myrtle Beach. We first went to a little strip mall kind of place on a boardwalk and walked around for a little bit and had lunch. Then we headed over to the Marriott. They let us use their pool because Andrew's dad has stayed there for business quite a few times. So we just hung out by the pool and pretended we were staying at a fancy resort for the day.

Here's a video of Eleanor swimming in the pool...


We flew there but drove a U-haul back to Ohio with a grand piano in it. Andrew's parents are moving and their new place doesn't have room for it, so we've inherited a grand piano. Exciting, huh? Eleanor did pretty good on the drive back. She was really excited to drive in the big truck and loved being able to sit next to me and Andrew. Some movers came this morning to unload the piano and set it up. It basically takes up the whole living room, but I'm excited to play it and Eleanor seems to be pretty soft with it. Maybe I can give her some simple lessons in a little while.

Anyway, we had a really fun trip and I'm so glad we were able to take a little trip before our new baby gets here. It was nice to have a distraction so I'm not just sitting around counting down the days. I've got a feeling that July is going to be a really long month! :)

you know you're pregnant when...

You cry during a country song. :) The other day we were driving around and "You're Gonna Miss This" came on the radio and it made me cry. The chorus says:

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this.

You probably just cried a little bit too, didn't you? haha It just makes me so sad to realize my little Eleanor isn't a baby anymore. We just moved her into a big bed and now more than ever she seems so old to me! I just want to savor every minute with her. She is such a fun, sweet, smart, energetic, and sweet little girl. Here are some of the moments I've been savoring.

She LOVES bubbles and goes nuts for them.


The long-awaited freezie pop season has begun. Eleanor isn't as big of a fan as I am.

We went to a little place called Romp and Stomp for playgroup, she was a little nervous at first and every time she would "bump" something like her elbow or head or foot she would look at me like it was a trauma and say "uh-oh", I think she needs a brother to toughen her up a little bit.


And here she is in her big bed. I was getting anxious to get the baby's room put together so on Friday I decided it was as good a time as ever to move her crib out and start her in a big bed. The first two nights/naptimes were VERY physically and emotionally exhausting, but I think now she's got the hang of it.

I put these alphabet wall stickers up around her bed and sometimes at nap time I can hear her "saying" her ABC's. It really sounds more like "c, c, c, c, c, c..."

And did I mention she goes to Nursery now! Talk about savoring a moment. It's been so nice to actually sit through Sunday School and get something out of it. Here she is after church as you might have guessed from the messy hair and wrinkled dress.

Ok, this has kind of turned into a novel, but here's one more. It has been so rainy and cold here the last week or so, but today we had a BEAUTIFUL day, so we headed outside to use the much anticipated (mainly by me, Eleanor had no idea how much fun she was about to have) kiddie pool for the first time. Despite what it may look like in some of these pictures, she really did have a fun time. We were out there almost 2 hours, and if you know Eleanor, not many things keep her attention for this long. When it was time to go in, she was NOT a happy camper and she pointed at the door and said something that sounded like "outside" the whole rest of the day. Good to know we've found ourselves some summer entertainment, especially since the freezie pops weren't such a huge hit.

I LOVE this girl and every moment with her!

Don't Flip Flop

At church I'm second counselor in Young Women so I'm in charge of the Beehives (12-13 year olds). They really wanted to do a "summer craft" and one girl suggested decorating flip flops with fabric. Well, I've seen those and sometimes they just look kind of messy. But I came across these flip flops embellished with balloons, so that's what I decided we'd do.

The theme for the month is Divine Nature, so I had to think of a way to relate that with flip flops. :) So I came up with"Don't flip flop on who you are!" We talked about "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" especially the line that says, "All human beings -male and female- are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny."

I loved looking on LDS.org for talks that pertained to our topic because most of them had to do with womanhood and motherhood and that's something I've really been thinking about. I am so thankful that I get to be a mother and that Heavenly Father is trusting me with his special spirit children. Here are some of the quotes I put on their handout...

"I would charge you to say again and again to yourselves...'I am a (son or daughter) of God’ and by so doing begin today to live closer to those ideals which will make your life happier and more fruitful because of an awakened realization of who you are.”
President Harold B. Lee

"To mothers, daughters, and women everywhere, let me stress the fact that because of your great potential and influence for good in the lives of all of us, Satan is determined to destroy you. You cannot compromise with him. You must have the courage, the strength, the desire, and the determination to live as the Lord would have you live – good clean lives. Girls, keep yourselves virtuous and worthy of a fine young man who has likewise kept himself clean, so that together you can go to the House of the Lord to be sealed in the holy bonds of matrimony for time and all eternity, and prepare a home where God will be pleased to send his spirit children."
N. Eldon Tanner

“Woman is God’s supreme creation. Only after the earth had been formed, after the day had been separated from the night, after the waters had been divided from the land, after vegetation and animal life had been created, and after man had been placed on the earth, was woman created; and only then was the work pronounced complete and good.

“Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley

And Jessie, you inspired me with your doggie cake for Naomi's birthday and I embarked on making a "fancy" cake, too! :) Here's the end result. It was fun, and now I'm excited to try out other fun cakes when my kids have birthdays.


Here are my cute Beehives!