Our Little Pumpkin

Elle is ready for Halloween. Taylor and Amy sent, along with a bunch of great clothes, the cutest ladybug costume and this pumpkin sweatshirt. I hear that Taylor tossed the sweatshirt in at the last minute as a joke. You can't tell from the picture here, but it is bright orange. I'm talkin' nearly blaze orange saves lives orange. Taylor decided Elle needed it and Cole decided that Elle needed to be festive the other day and wear her pumpkin sweatshirt. I'd say from the picture, Elle enjoys her new digs!

Elle and I head up to Pasadena today for the weekend with my parents. Elle gets to go to the Fall Fest at the church and show off her true ladybug self...it should prove to be a great time. The sweatshirt might just make another appearance. You never know what fun we'll have. Thanks again Taylor and Amy for the great festive wear!

Wha' Happen'???

Okay, so last night my perfect daughter decided that it would be fun to throw a wrench in her perfection!

At 7pm, right on time, I put Elle to bed. Not a peep out of her. She went right to sleep not a single tear, no talking to herself, not so much as a whimper. I was thinking to myself..."yep, this is the life!"

10:30 rolls around. I'm in bed just about to doze off and I hear her. Crying. I decide to let her be for just a bit, to see if she'll soothe herself back to sleep. Yeah...not so much.

As the good mother, I assess before entering her room.

I think:

Could she be hungry? Probably not since she got her 4 feedings of milk and three square meals, not to mention she never wakes up to eat, hasn't since she was 3 months old.

Could she need a diaper change? Possible, but really, dirty diapers don't phase this girl. She can sit in it for a while before she complains. (not that I let her sit in it of course)

Could she be in pain? Possible. She was sounding a bit "snorty" kinda like a pig when she was eating before bed, and we did feed her a new food at dinner...millet.

I was now at a loss. But I went in...

Changed the diaper and fed her just a bit. Put her straight back in her crib, so she would know that this is not what we do, this is not a fun time, you are to be sleeping.

She goes back to sleep nicely.

12:30 am....Crying again.

Assess...

This time I did the unthinkable....I brought her in bed with me (after a dose of tylenol for the millet problem, or the teeth?? Who knows, but I've heard tylenol works). I let her lay next to be in the bed and all she wanted to do was look around. Then she got fussy. So, I picked her up and laid her on my chest, just like I did when she first got home from the hospital.

She slept on my chest for probably 2 hours or so. It was so sweet! There is nothing so sweet as being able to calm an unhappy baby by holding her close! I love her so much!

2am: My snuggle time is over mainly due to the fact that it is difficult for me to breath with 16 pounds laying on my chest. I decide that Elle needs to go back to her crib. I put her down and she is fine. Phew!

I hear her again around 4 am and 6 am, but each time she is able to soothe herself back to sleep.

In the morning when she finally woke up at 7:45, I searched her mouth for teeth, red gums or little creatures telling her to cry in the middle of the night. None of the above were found. Let's hope this night-time charade doesn't happen again. A mama needs her sleep...but she does like a snuggle with her baby girl!

A Beautiful Fall Day...In a Sundress!

So, It's technically fall in San Diego, however today it is about 80 degrees! I found a sundress in Elle's closet that she hadn't worn yet because it was too big. Well, thank goodness summer lasts a while around here...she can wear it now and it even has a matching hat! We took a trip to Balboa Park and decided to hit the swings again.

Here's the fun we had:

Thanks mom...I love the swings!

Cheeks baby, cheeks!

Where's Elle?

Yay! I love it!!

I'm an airplane!

What I Love the Most...

Elle is so much fun! She is seriously the best baby. I know, everyone says, wait until the second one comes...it'll be the exact opposite. Well, I don't care right now. Elle is the BEST!

My most favorite time of day is when Elle wakes up from a nap, or wakes up from sleeping through the night. Yep, she sleeps through the night...12 hours through the night! Love her!!

When she wakes up she is so happy and too cute for words. We've started this new thing. When I come in her room to get her. I say, "Is my sweet baby waking up? Where's my sweet girl?" Then she lifts herself up on her hands and looks through the slats in her crib to find me. The picture below is what I see. Not quite as blurry, but you get he idea.

How can this picture not put a smile on your face??!!

Then I come near the crib and sing the good morning song and ask her if my sweet girl is ready to get up and start the day. This is what I get to see then:

Mom, I'm ready to start my day right!

Our Doll

When Elle wakes up from her naps she is cutest! I love to take pictures of her right when she wakes up. I snapped the picture below and even though it's blurry (taken with my iphone), I think she looks just like a doll!

Here's the picture of our little doll.

Big Girl Bath

Elle is now officially too big for her infant bathtub that fits in the kitchen sink. We put Elle in the big bath tub and she had a blast! Elle's super slippery in the bath tub. So slippery in fact that we had to make her sit on a hand towel so she wouldn't slide so much.

I figure in another month or so she will be so good at sitting up, we won't have to catch her in the nick of time before she nearly drowns. Yep it happened, and we have it on video. Here are a few pictures of Elle in the big girl bath:

I like my bath toys so much...I just wanna eat 'em!

I'm a big girl!

I love baths!

What are you doing Dad?? I'm naked here!!

Check ya next time!

We have the BEST FRIENDS!!

So, I've decided....we have the best friends in the whole wide world!

Cole takes care of Elle on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesday, when I go to work. Well, his real estate company decided that Mondays would be a great day for a 7 week training session that was mandatory. If you don't go, you don't work here any more type of deal.

Our friends Ryan and Beth just moved back to San Diego this summer and neither of them had a job when Cole's Monday class started. Beth is a teacher and Ryan is a lawyer (and his job doesn't start until Jan.). They graciously volunteered to watch Elle for us on Mondays.

2 weeks into Cole's class Beth got a teaching job and I thought to myself, "What are we going to do now?" but left it up to Cole to coordinate the baby-sitting. I was shocked when Ryan said he would watch Elle again...and he has for the past 4 weeks. BY HIMSELF!! What a guy!

So then along comes this week...Cole's company not only had their Monday training class, but an all day, Tuesday-Friday training as well. Again, I left it up to Cole to find the baby-sitting. This past Tuesday, Brock, another awesome friend of ours came over to the house and watched Elle until 1:30, at which time Ryan and Beth finished the shift until I got home from work!

Can you believe the friends we have?? We owe them big, as all this baby-sitting was done for free out of the goodness of their hearts! WOW are we blessed!

Ryan took some pictures of Elle on Wednesday when he watched her and they are too cute!

That's a funny face you're makin' Cuz! (That's what Elle calls Ryan)

Elle: Yay! I love you Cuz!

Coach: What is going on here?? This girl is Nuts!

I love to do push up...and one... and two...

Hi!

A Progression of events

Elle is getting so good at sitting up these days. The only downfall is trying to keep the dog off of her gets to be a challenge. Case in point:

Hi Coach...I'll pet you because you are my sister!

I'm keeping my eyes on you...you know Mom doesn't like you to lick me...

Oh no!

Mom! Coach just got me!

Girls...sit!

Go Charncos!!

Monday night's football game was so much fun! As you know Cole is from Colorado, so he roots for the Broncos, but we live in San Diego, so he roots for the Chargers. When they play each other it can be such a conflicting time!

Elle wanted to get into the spirit, but just like her dad, she was a bit conflicted. She decided on wearing Charger powder blue and Bronco orange, and looked ADORABLE!!!

Yay Chargers, I mean Broncos, I mean Chargers...oh I'm confused!!

Don't you think I should just sit here and look cute? Okay...done!

The Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday we went to Bates Nut Farm with our friends Ryan and Beth. Elle enjoyed her first time at a pumpkin patch for sure! We had a blast.

We took a picnic lunch and then ventured out to the patch...we chose a couple pumpkins which we carved that night and roasted the seeds three ways for tasty treats!

Here are the pictures from the pumpkin patch:

We love pumpkins and our sweet girl!

I think I'll take this one...no...that one!

I fit it perfectly...some even call me a pumpkin!

I love the pumpkin path and sitting in this hay!

Yay!

A New Application

Cole got a new application on his iPhone called ShakeItPhoto. You take a picture and then the application creates a fauxlaroid. (It makes the picture look like a Polaroid). You even get to shake the phone to make the picture appear. It is super fun and the pictures come out with a bit of a hazy, blurry look, just like Polaroid pictures.

Here are a couple of the first fauxlaroids:

This is my angelic pose...what do you think?

Sweet baby girl!

With Elle's new trick of sitting up on her own, we ventured out and tried the big-girl highchair at a restaurant. Success! I packed a couple blankets behind her just in case. She loved it! I fed her butternut squash and cereal before our food came and she was a sweet baby!!

Mom...not only can I read, but I can sit up too!

Wait, what did they order? It looks so much better than my cereal!

I can't be bothered right now, I'm getting to the good part!

My Friends...

Elle is getting pretty good at sitting up on her own now. I still put a pillow behind her just in case she falls back...our floors are to cushy.

The other day I had her sit up and I piled all her stuffed animals around her. She loved it!! She has enough stuffed animals that is for sure!

Here's Elle with her fluffy friends:

What Mom? Can't a girl get a little privacy around here?

I mean it...you heard me!

I choose you purple beany baby...

So many choices Mom...what's a girl to do??

The Pictures Say it All...(okay the captions help)

Mom, that was the best dinner you've given me yet!! Butternut squash,

zucchini, AND rice cereal. I couldn't have asked for more!

I want more dinner....watch my hand....you are getting sleepy....

you will give me more squash....

Drinking out of this cup is so exciting, I can barely contain myself!

What you talkin' 'bout Mama??

Basking in the Sun

Last week I was looking all over the house for Coach and couldn't find her. Finally, I decided to look on the deck, since during the day Coach likes to bask in the sun out on the deck. The concrete tiles on the deck get warm and Coach morphs into her lizard self, warming herself on the "warm rocks". Well, she wasn't laying on the concrete tiles this time. What I saw was shocking:

Mom, this lounge chair is perfect for working on my tan!

Go ahead, take all the pictures you want, I'm not movin'!

Vintage...

This past Sunday Elle wore another one of my old dresses. She looked too cute! She even wore a pair of my old shoes.

A bunch of friends at church asked about her ensemble and thought she looked so sweet in the darling rosebud dress.

We tried to recreate the picture of me from years ago, but we just couldn't get Elle to cry!! She is just to precious!

My dad and me...I was 6 weeks old

Elle and her daddy...Elle is 6 months old!

I'm liking this food thing!

Cole and I spent a Sunday afternoon making all kinds of baby food. Elle is 6 months old now and ready for some food. I could hardly wait!! We went to the store, bought some organic fruits and veggies, and used the baby cook book my mom gave me at my baby shower last December.

We went to Whole Foods because it was close, (next time we'll go to Henry's and save a little more cash) and bought: peas, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, and zucchini. We got all of that for $12. Then we began the steaming and pureeing. Such fun!!

It only took us an hour to make all the food. We froze all that we pureed in cute little containers my mom got for us, ice cube trays and old baby food jars. We ended up making 68 servings of food for Elle. That's 17 cents a serving...not bad!

We started feeding her butternut squash that night. Butternut squash and oatmeal cereal...mmm

So now Elle gets two meals a day. She gets cereal in the morning, and a veggie and cereal for dinner. She is a good little eater, even though after the first bite she always makes a face that says, "What is this?? Gross!! I much prefer my old meals of milk!"

Here are a few pictures of Elle and the butternut squash aftermath:

Who me? Messy? What?

I'll take some more mom!

I like this stuff, and your old bib Mom!

Yeah, I think we can do this again tomorrow!