1st Birthday Baby

One year. One year? Really? Yes, really.

Oh Elaina, our baby girl....you are so sweet and perfect.  I can hardly believe one year ago at 10:16 in the morning you were born.  You left our Heavenly Father's home to come to ours.  We could not be luckier.  Your sweet spirit is contagious and we find that we fall in love with you more each day.  You are such a fun baby girl.  You are so happy 99% of the time.  You are a wonderful sleeper- though it took a while to get you to sleep through the night- you happily lay down for naps and put yourself to sleep.  The only time you take a pacifier is at nap time, and you dive for your bed as soon as I give it to you. You cuddle with your stuffed animals and go to sleep. You are so easy that way.  You love to eat! My goodness do you love to eat! You still don't eat your veggies very well, but fruit, for sure- and pretty much any kind of snack! I don't think you are missing much! You did not like your milk the first day...but, after realizing there was nothing else to drink, you happily take it anytime I offer your cup.  You are determined to be big! You love being with older kids and doing what they do- or at least trying really hard.  You walked early, you run now and love to dance! You love playing in Leah and Celeste's room and dancing to their music.  We are constantly watching you for more fun things for you to do.  You never cease to amaze us.  This year has been so wonderful. I would not trade it for the world.  You complete our family and we love you so.

Down for the Count

I failed to mention that Celeste has Bronchial Pneumonia.  Not fun.  She was sick for nearly 2 weeks, and is still not 100%.  She is getting there- her medicine is almost gone, but not her deep cough.  If we are having down time, she will still randomly fall asleep wherever that is.  She has fallen asleep in the car, on the couch, in my arms, and even at church! (Many people do that one, but usually not her- not even Elaina sleeps at church!) Anyway, this is how I found her the other day when I was cooking dinner.

Thankfully no one else got this sick. She goes back to the doctor on Friday to make sure she is all good.  I am pretty certain she will get a clean bill of health.  She is back to her old self already!  Lucky girl missed 5 days of school!

Spring Break Day 1

The children were whining that we "aren't going anywhere on vacation" during Spring Break.  I reminded them that we NEVER go anywhere during break- our vacation is in June...but they were still sad.  
Not wanting to break their precious hearts (note the sarcasm), I had them come up with a few places to visit this week.  
Day one: The Zoo.
We haven't gone since the lights in December, so today was the day.  It started out a little cooler than we had hoped, but we were quickly shedding layers by the time we got there early afternoon.  My camera's battery died half way through the day, but these are some shots we got before that.
We met our friends the Spires there, and that is always fun to have friends to go with.

Afterwards, we went to this yogurt shop for treats.  It is a "build your bowl" concept, where you choose the frozen yogurt you like (there were a lot of flavors), then you pile on the toppings of your choice- the kids thought it was fantastic! Not the price, though...oh well...it is Spring Break, right?
I think since we did 2 things in one day, it buys me a day off tomorrow!!  Pretty excited about that!

Somebody call 9-1-1

On April Fools, no less....
Elaina had the phone and dialed 911, then a bunch of numbers.  I could hear an operator, but I just grabbed it from her and hung it up.  Two seconds later, it rings.
Yep, 911 operator- thankfully she was super nice and laughed with me.
5 minutes later- doorbell rings- just the police checking...

How can you not laugh?! It's been a long weekend, good to finish it off with a good one!

Cry Baby

Oh how I love her- 
Celeste was mad at me for letting her cry while I snapped these.

I just couldn't help myself!!

Bubbles

Elaina's first experience with bubbles...what fun!

Waiting patiently...

More please!!

Bumps

On Sunday, Elaina tripped over my legs while drinking her sippy cup; busted her lip and left these marks:

She refused to even look at that sippy cup the rest of the morning! This is what happens when we can't see our feet while walking and drinking at the same time!