Eliza 18 Months and Our Picture Fiasco

So recently it has been very hard to get pictures of Eliza. She won't stop moving and she is very tempermental. If she is hungry, tired, overexcited, or {insert any random thing here} she may have a melt down.

But alas, I chose to ignore these things and try to get her picture taken for her 18 month mark/Christmas. Let's just say it was not a pleasant experience.

It was suppose to be a just Eliza photo shoot but she wouldn't let us put her down at first so we had to take a family shot. This is what we got: Not terrible but not great either. Then we were able to bribe her to get on the floor without one of us holding her. BUT she wouldn't be still. So the best shot we got was her running around. This is the best one from the whole session I think:

Did I mention that our photographer was not great with kids? She kept trying to get Eliza to smile but was just making Eliza mad. I told her to just take photos. Even if she is upset, it could still turn out to be a funny picture. That's the joy of digital pictures. You don't run out of film! But the photographer would only take them if she thought Eliza was smiling. Also, the camera's battery died TWICE during the couple of times she was happy. So the photographer had to have another person come in to try and get Eliza to smile. He actually did a great job getting her to smile, but he did not do a great job of staying out of the shot. This is the result: It would have been a great picture if she had a soccer uniform on. I am just saying.

Next up? More running around. Cute baby:And finally a smile. Although the camera is a bit out of focus. Really I think I just need their lighting and their camera and I could take better pictures. Grumble grumble. Then came the straw that broke the camera's back. They have this super cute prop where you put on a santa's sleeve and glove, and hold a fake plate with plastic cookies and plastic milk glass. so it looks like the kid is handing santa the cookies/milk. It's a cool idea except to a 1 year old. Eliza thought she was getting milk and cookies. She was determined to get those cookies off of that plate. It was very frustrating to her that she couldn't get them. Then when they took the props away she was done. She had a giant melt down. I felt kind of bad because from her perspective it was like we were offering her some cookies, and then took them away. Oh and did I mention that they had blocked the lighting lamp so the picture is really dark? Awesome.

So we were able to bribe Eliza with a few snacks and got one more half-a-smile out of her.

They had to crop out the snacks held tightly in her hands. She is still cute.

At 18 Months, Eliza:

- Sings a lot. Her current favorites are "Jingle Bells," "Ring Around the Rosey," "Patty Cake," "ABCs" and "I love to see the temple." She came home from daycare yesterday singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep." The words were a little confusing but she had the tune right.

- If she wants you to come with her she will wave you towards her and say "Mon, Mon" for Come On.

- She eats pretty good but still won't eat meat.

- She sleeps like a champ. She has me rock her a little bit while we sing. She will snuggle with me on most nights, and then she'll sit up and say "bed." Then it is time for me to put her in bed.

- First word in the morning is Daddy or Kase. Yes, she calls him Kase sometimes. She thinks the shower in our bathroom is Daddy's Bath because he is usually in there when I get her up in the mornings.

- She gives sweet kisses. Sometimes she will randomly come and kiss me and I melt.

- She loves to find things. Like if she looses her sippy cup she'll say "Cuuup, Where are you cuuup" with her hands turned palm side up.

- She loves her baby dolls or her "Babies" as she calls them.

- She also loves to read her books.

- She loves other kids. She is not good at sharing yet but she will often ask for other kids from daycare or church by their names.

- She weighs 26 lbs 1.5 oz and is 32 inches tall.

She is a very feisty, loving, and sweet girl. She makes our lives better. We so enjoy watching her learn and grow. She is such a blessing and we are so glad we have her.

A Belated Thanksgiving Post

I hate to skip over a Thanksgiving post. This year, I didn't take many pictures.

We had a great Thanksgiving though. This year we spent Thanksgiving with Kase's side of the family. Due to some events scheduled around the holiday, we hosted Thanksgiving this year. If you know me, you know cooking is not my favorite thing to do. But it was actually very fun! We cooked our first turkey. I was a bit nervous, but it turned out pretty tastey if I do say so myself! Everyone brought something delicous: Cheesy Potatoes, this mandarin orange thing Kase's mom makes that I love but I have no idea how to spell the name, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, and the best homemade apple pie I have ever tasted.

We spent the day visiting and eating. I think there may have been some football watching.

Eliza woke up that morning to help me prep the food but before all of the family came over she was ready for a nap. She napped from 11:45 till 4:30!! I kept checking on her to make sure she was OK. It turned out she had a low fever, probably a sinus infection of some sort. She needed the rest. Meanwhile, I kind of enjoyed being able to feast on the yummy food with out any interruptions.

It was a wonderful day. I am so thankful for my family. My in-law family is the best any one could ask for.

Remember That Time......

That I WON a Give Away?!!!! I DO!!!!

I am super excited!

My choice you ask?

A pretty little something that looks something like this:

You should get one for yourself! Shop here!

PS A belated Thanksgiving post is to come. Plus an 'Eliza is 18 Months' post is on it's way. I am so behind.

Give Away

I am a sucker for a good give away.

Want to win something?

Go to http://ammeandneb.blogspot.com/ for your chance to win a super cool item.

I really like the "Love is Spoken Here" Pillows and the "All is Calm All is Bright" Pillows.

Oh who am I kidding?

I love it all!

Food for the Soul

As you probably know I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka a Mormon. My faith is a very large part of my life. It shapes the way I think, what decisions I make, the clothes I wear, and so much more. I have many friends who are not Mormons. We have different beliefs and that is perfectly fine. Sometimes we venture into discussions, agree to disagree, and still love each other just the same. I think that is how it should be. I am not here to judge you, or to force my beliefs onto you.

Growing up, I had a good friend of another faith. I don’t want to mention names so we will call the church "X". Her mother would not allow her to come with me to church. Her church had classes about what Mormons believe and how we are bad. I find that so interesting. Why would you go to X church to learn about another church? It just doesn’t make sense. Just like the in media recently with the whole big hoopla about people saying Mormons are not Christians. I don’t know why someone who is not Mormon would have any knowledge or authority to tell others what Mormons believe. I would never ask a non-catholic what Catholics believe. I have always been taught that most every church has something good about them.

So today, my very good friend invited me to go to a church across the street from my work. They do a weekly lunch with a short sermon. I will admit, I was only going because of the cheap delicious food (which by the way was really good.) But I also really enjoyed the sermon. (Even though it was kind of a plug for the guys book which was a little weird to me.) He talked about restlessness. How sometimes we always look for more, wish we had more or that things were better/different. The "grass is greener" philosophy. He talked about how this restlessness can be a strength in that you are always trying to improve what you are doing. That can be a good thing. However, you need to be grateful for the blessings that you do have. I have been feeling like that lately. There are several things in my life that I wish would improve. Lately, I have felt a little selfish and like I am not counting my blessings but focusing on what I don’t have. Instead of being happy that I have a sweet husband, a beautiful daughter, a warm home, and a wonderful job; I have been focusing on needed house repairs, almost broken down cars, money that we don’t have, and time that I have to spend away from my daughter. The man at the sermon talked about how instead of being restless, we should strive for patience with hope and faith that things will get better. I know that the Lord is aware of me and my life. I know that it is in His hands and things will go on His time. I need to be open to His guidance, and in the meantime focus on being happy with what I have.

Between a wiggling toddler and having a calling in the nursery, it is sometimes hard for me to listen to messages at church. I guess the Lord found me where he could. It was a much needed reminder for my life. I am glad that I ventured across the street for some fried chicken.

Yaba daba dooooo

My friend Holly had our friend Mayemma make this awesome onesie for E. Isn't it the cutest? It's her face on it and everytime I see it I crack up. Made my day.

We've had a great Halloween. We went to the church Trunk 'r Treat. Eliza was terrified and wouldn't get down. But we had fun anyways. We also went to our awesome family's Halloween party that was a blast. Eliza ate so much sugar she was walking backwards and squealing.

On the actual day of halloween, Eliza trick 'r treated at her daycare, had a halloween party, and got to come trick 'r treat at my work. One lady was giving out whole full-sized candy bars. Eliza was smart and picked out a snickers because she knows what mommy likes. Our friend Holly, or Holla as Eliza calls her, came over and spent Halloween evening with us. Eliza was so tired from her day that she was ready for bed and we never made it out for neighborhood trick 'r treating. So after Eliza went to bed, Kase, Holly, our awesome neighbor Owen (We missed you Brianna), and I sat out by our bonfire and handed out candy. It was fun.

We had a lot of trick or treaters and it was fun. This was my first time handing out a lot of candy to kids. The little ones were so cute. The big teenagers sometimes creepy but usually nice. I made each kid say "trick or treat." Some of them acted like they didn't know they were suppose to say it. One older kid walked up and held out his bag, and I said "What do you say?" He looked really confused and said "Ummm... Please?" While I am glad he was at least polite I was like "NO you say Trick or Treat." He was a teenager, he should at least know that. What is wrong with kids these days? We had a really good time.

I have more pictures but I am too lazy to upload them so I just stole these from other people.

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

The Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weeks ago, Eliza and I went to a pumpkin patch with our friends B and J. The kids were a little too young for some of the stuff but I think they had a lot of fun.


Eliza loved running around without having to hold hands. She headed straight for the pony ride. I tried to get good pictures but someone wouldn't be still long enough. Or smile. Or look at the camera. The wind kept blowing her hair everywhere. Don't judge me. Her hair usually looks a little less crazy. (Please reference hair comment above.)


Eliza really liked the bunny. She also liked the goats, but wouldn't pet them. I am OK with that. Then we walked over to the hayride and went out to the pumpkin patch.Eliza picked a big pumpkin to go with her small pumpkin at home. She tried to pick it up but it was a little heavier than her pumkin at home. We had a really fun time. J was so sweet to Eliza. He kept asking "Where Eliza go?" when she would fall behind. The last time we went somewhere with them, J gave Eliza his blanket in the car in case she got cold. He is so cute. I wish I had a better picture of them together. I guess we will have to hang out again!

My Little Pumpkin

At the begginning of October, I bought Eliza a small baby pumpkin from the farmer's market. She loves that pumpkin.

She likes to give the pumpkin kisses (don't worry I washed it first.)

The pumpkin makes her giggle.

She likes to carry the pumpkin around the house.

She likes to carry it around with her outside too.

She loves her little pumpkin.

And I love my little pumpkin.

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just liked this outfit. Couldn't get her to be still long enough for a picture though.

Update: Uh Oh Spaghetti-Oh

Life has been super busy lately. Not enough time to blog. But I want to remember a few happenings of late. So here is a quick, not so well written update post.

Eliza has been changing so much lately. She repeats a lot of words. She has started her 1 year old class at daycare and seems to like it. This week she started not crying when I drop her off and she seems really excited to see her teachers and friends.

Funny Eliza events:
- I forgot to pack her nap mat sheet and nap blanket for daycare yesterday. At nap time they used an extra sheet and blanket they had. When they asked her to lay down to take a nap she looked at the sheet and looked back at them like she new that was not her stuff. They did finally get her to nap but she wasn't happy about it. She is either a creature of habit or she just really likes to nap in stylish sheets.

- Thanks to Kase's training lessons she now says "uh oh spaghetti oh" although it sounds like "uh oh spateteti."

- This past weekend I discovered that when asked she can say certain sounds that animals make. A Lion "roars" (but in a whispering voice), a cat "meooowws," a cow "mooooos," and a dog "ruff ruffs."

- I bought her a small pumpkin to learn the color orange and what pumpkins are. She loves her "puttin" and loves to carry it around the house. She also enjoys chewing on the stem. (YUCK.) She also loves to throw it. I am surprised it hasn't busted yet.

- She has certain favorite books including: Good Night Moon, Look Look (it's a black and white book), In My Tree (an owl finger puppet book), and Where's Spot.

- As mentioned before, one of Eliza's favorite books is a lift-the-flap book titled "Where's Spot." Yesterday, she brought it to me saying "Spot Spot Spot Spot." My heart about melted.

She will be 16 months on Thursday and once again, I think this is my favorite age. She is so much fun.

In other happenings, Kase went to wood badge last weekend and really enjoyed it. He will be returning in a couple of weeks to do the other part of the course. I don't really know how all that works but he is having fun.

Also, in Laura news I am changing my work schedule to where in my 2 week pay period I work eight 9 hour days, get one 8 hour day, and have the 1st Friday of the pay period off. So I will have every other Friday off. I am excited about this. Eliza and I will have some fun mommy daughter days ahead.

I am also REALLY excited it is Fall. My favorite time of the year. I already know what we are going to be for Halloween. I will not tell you but I am making our costumes (so don't laugh at them) and it is a family theme. And Eliza is going to look so stinkin cute.

Welp that is about all. The end.

Elizabug

There are no words to express how much I love my little Bug. She is so fun right now. These are some more pictures from our staycation. She giggles all the time but no smiles for the camera.

"Where is the ball?"

"Where is Eliza?"

She makes us smile. Wouldn't trade her for anything.

Not Anything.

Say Cheese!

The Great WWW.

While reading this website last night I saw this website.

It is a website where people post pictures of items they would take with them in case of fire. It is neat to see what people think of.

My parents had a house fire once and their dining room table had a large burn scar on it. As a child I was always a little fearful of this. So I have always had a list of things I would grab if I could.

When I lived in an apartment by myself, I would always pray that my building would not catch on fire. Another building in the complex had burned down years ago, and being that the apartments were a little.... old.... I strongly felt that it could be a possibility. Not to mention the fire station seemed to be called out to our area a lot. For a while, I would mentally go through my list before I went to bed at night. Yes, it was a little morbid and a lot weird.

One night, I felt that I should say a special prayer of protection over my apartment. Then sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke to loud sirens outside and a banging on my door. I remember stumbling out the door of my apartment into the hallway. Then down the hallway pushing open the back door. I was filled with shock as I stared at the building behind mine which was engulfed in flames.

Thanfully, no one was hurt in the fire. The building was a total loss, and many people lost their homes. One of my friends lived in the building next to the one that was of fire. Because of the direction of the wind, she had to gather her family and leave for the night just in case her apartment caught on fire. Possessions can be replaced but sometimes it is interesting to think of what you would grab if you could.

My list: MY FAMILY OF COURSE, any scrapbooks I can carry (I worked hard on those), my scriptures (I have marked them just the way I like), the afghan blanket my granny made me, wedding rings, my journal, car keys, wallet, and cellphone.

My list has changed over time. Mostly I would just want to get my family out safely. Also, now that I live in a house that is more than one level, I feel that most of what is on my list would not be feasible to grab in a hurry. (scrapbooks are all the way downstairs so that probably wouldn't happen.)

What is on your list?

So How Was My Week Off You Ask?

One word:

Awesome.

Eliza and I had the best week off together. (Kase had to work.)

On our event list we:
-visited my parents. Eliza played and played and played. She also was spoiled a lot. It was a good time. I have a good picture from our visit but I have not uploaded the pictures from my real camera yet. She learned to say Memaw and Papaw which comes out "Memaaawww and Papaawww" Hilarious.

- got her some new shoes. She has to start wearing shoes all day in her new class at daycare. So we went shopping. She loves shoes. She also loves running out of the shoe store with new shoes on that we haven't paid for yet.

- We played at the mall's play area. SHE LOVED THIS:
- We found her a new hairstyle. Her first attempt at a pony tail:

- We played and played and played some more.

- Eliza had her 15 month check up. She is 24lbs 5 oz and 30.5 inches of cutentess. She did not like getting shots but she cheered up pretty fast with the help of snacks:

- We accompanied some good friends of ours to the zoo. It was really fun. Although I think I liked looking at the animals more than Eliza did. She did like the squirrels though. And she was able to pet a hedgehog. We had fun. Thank you to our friends! This is us in front of the zebras:

- We also got to hang out with auntie Holly AND go shopping (Eliza got a lot of new clothes) AND sleep in AND make a few yummy dinners for us to enjoy with Kase AND do things around the house that I have been dying to get done. It was a success.

One of the best things about the week was when the day was getting late I felt my daily dread come on of having to leave Eliza the next day, but then I would remember that I didn't have to leave her. That was really nice.

Eliza is growing so fast. At 15 months she:

- Sleeps really well. From 7:30 to 7:30 (8:30 while on vacation!) and takes 2-3 hour naps.

- Talks. A LOT. She also repeats what you say sometimes so becareful. My favorites are: All done, all better, more, blue, open, hola, bath, milk, dog, ruff ruff, ball, night night, and cheese.

- She is finally calling me Mama pretty consistantly. I love it. It melts my heart everytime.

- First thing in the morning when I get her out of bed she asks for Da Da so we have to go looking for him.

- She loves the song popcorn popping and will do the hand signs and say "pop pop."

- She loves to tickle you and gives kisses.

- We were shopping the other day and ran into a friend. Eliza was nervous and wanted me to pick her up out of the shopping cart. I finally gave in and picked her up. She looked at me and patted me on the shoulder and said "ma ma" so sweetly. I thought I would pop.

- She loves to play and play. She will play by herself for quite a while.

- She tries to jump, but only her arms go up.

- When asked "where is Eliza" she points to her head excitedly.

- She can identify nose, mouth, eye (but she almost pokes her and your eyes out), ear (but calls them eyes too), belly, belly button, hair, and feet.

- Folds her arms for prayer (even if it is only for a few seconds) and says "Amen" (even if it is several times really loudly in the middle of church.)

- She is our cute adorable fiesty sweet girl.

I use to not want her to grow bigger, but I find every new stage to be even more fun. I am really enjoying this stage.

Dropping her off at daycare this morning was difficult. BUT she was excited to see her friends and her toys. We had a great week together.

Goodbye Summer Hello Staycation

Today felt like fall and I loved it.

It made me think about how quickly summer has flown by. I have not kept up with blogging like I wanted to. Here is what we have been up to.

The Fourth of July was fun picnic-ing with friends and swimming. Eliza had the perfect hand-me-down dress, our favorite kind:

Yard sales are one of my favorite things about summer. I picked up this little shopping cart for Eliza. She loves pushing around her dolls:

We ate a lot this summer. Grilling out and eating in. Eating is one of Eliza's favorite activities:
Eliza had a fun time at daycare during the week. However, her friends had a fun time taking a few bites out of her. I guess she is just too sweet:

We visiting my parents house several times. This is Eliza with her mom, memaw, and great memaw:

Did I mention Eliza really likes to eat?

We've had a great summer and we're ready for FALL!!!

PS I am off work this week and I am super excited. I am taking a "staycation" to spend time with my little Elliza bug. This is going to be awesome!!!

5

Friday, August 12th, was our 5th anniversary! I can't believe we have been together for 5 wonderful years. To celebrate we treated ourselves with a lovely dinner at a fancy restaurant Foothills Milling Company. It was delish.

Then we drove to my parents where they kept Eliza overnight so we could get a mini-break. We had all the grand ideas about picnics and historical site tours... but instead we went shopping, ate junk, watched cable without having to chase around a one year old. It was nice. And for the record, Kase said he missed Eliza before I did. Also for the record, we ended up buying a bunch of random stuff for Eliza and not for us. How does that happen? Anyways. We had a wonderful time relaxing together. Eliza had a wonderful time hanging out with Memaw and Papaw.

On another note, Kase has started his very own blog. It is not as cool as mine but he tries. ha. Just kidding. If you want a lookie head on over and check it out:

http://www.30filmsby30years.blogspot.com/

Bluegrass and a Birthday

Don't you love when you show up on a Monday morning to work smelling like baby vomit? I know I do.

Mondays come too quickly but we had a great weekend.

Friday we met up with The Gang at a park where a blue grass festival was going on. Eliza enjoyed dancing and walking around in the grass. Unfortunately, thanks to the mosquitos and an over-tired baby who is fighting off a cold, the night didn't last long.

All of my pictures recently happen to be cell phone pictures.

Saturday was spent celebrating my sweet husband's birthday. His parents kindly watched Eliza so that we could go to not one but TWO movies. (Kase does love the movies.) We saw Cowboys and Aliens and Captain America. I liked Captain America. It was pretty good. For lunch we shared a delicous gormet combo meal from the movie theater concessions. (We didn't have time to venture out to get something and after packing everything for Eliza I forgot to pack us food.) But that is OK because we were saving room for dinner at one of Kase's favorites, SilverSpoon. We met my best and oldest (as in years I've known her not in age) friend and her boyfriend who were driving through town for dinner. That was fun until Eliza decided to act like a crazy toddler because she wanted to run around the restrant and I ran out of things to bribe her with. People were staring at me as my child cried and whined. It was awesome. I think she has officially crossed over into toddlerdom. AND our waitress decided to put all 4 of the meals on our card instead of split on the two different cards the two different couples gave her. Grumble grumble. BUT Kase enjoyed his dinner, and I enjoyed seeing my dear friend.

Sunday I woke up with the WORST headache and a terrible crick (however you spell that) in my neck. It was not pleasant. In fact, I still haven't gotten rid of it. But it still ended up being a good day. We celebrated Kase's birthday with tacos for dinner and a red velvet cake I made decorated to look like a movie ticket. It was not my best cake (hence no pictures) but I tried. That is what counts you know.

I hope my husband had a wonderful birthday. He is the sweetest funniest guy I know. He takes such good care of Eliza and me. We love him.

Overall it was a good weekend. We are ready for another one. Only a few more days. :)

The Gang

'K', 'PS', Eliza and 'PE'


In Eliza's daycare class there are 4 kiddos. They are all June 2010 babies. The three girls live two houses down from each other and the 1 boy lives about 5 minutes away. None of us even knew that we lived next to each other for the first few weeks of daycare time.

We try to get together so they kids can play and so us parents can hang out. Friday we all met at Big Ed's Pizza in Oak Ridge for dinner. It was yummy and the kids entertained each other. I love when Eliza recognizes her friends and waves at them. She even kissed one of them on the mouth. She is a loving little girl.

We had a fun time. I hope Eliza is able to keep in touch with these friends as they all grow up.

On Friday, Eliza also got to spend some time with her Aunt Holly. Eliza is very lucky to have so many people who love her.


Best thing about Saturday: Eliza was ready to go to bed so I leaned her down to Kase so she could give him kisses and she spit up all over his face. It was awesome. I love that kid. ha ha.

My Mom's Birthday Surprise

This weekend was fun.

Eliza and I surprised my mom for her birthday by coming home for the weekend. My mom was at work and Eliza and I walked in unexpectedly. She was so surprised. It was awesome.

We had a wonderful weekend eating, shopping, playing. Eliza gave lots of kisses and loved chasing the dogs around the house. She was a little spoiled.

I hope my mom had a great birthday. She is so kind and generous and takes care of us. She sacrifices so much for her family and for taking care of my Memaw who has alzheimer's. She is a wonderful example to me of being selfless and patient.

A few cell phone pictures of the weekend:

Eliza stealing food off of my mom's plate. (She needs to learn she is supposed to 'give' on birthdays not 'take')

While shopping Eliza found her twin and was really excited. This is her excited face. All that shopping wore her out.

We had a great trip. We missed Kase though. When we got back home Eliza and her daddy played and played until they were both ready for night night.

Happy Birthday Momma. We love you!