22 months and a very busy week.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Well, I went through and organized all of these, and blogger still didn't upload them in order! I just must be missing something.

This week was a busy one! Last weekend we had some time just to ourselves with nothing planned, which was nice. Elena played "horsey" with Daddy, then wanted to be the horsey for her baby. Cute. Baby dolls do almost everything she does now-one of my favorites has to be that she shows them things and has them touch them-like reading books. She also does a really adorable thing where she tells them goodbye and then comes back and says "missed you!". We videoed it the other night, and she did it 12 times in a row.

She is a very serious draw-er for a 22 month old. She uses a pen and writes "letters" and will tell you what they are. She will do this for numerous minutes at a time. Here, she's very seriously writing on Gigi and Grandad's birthday cards.


She brought me the camera, got Harriet, and said "picture". She wouldn't smile, but she did sort of pose. She's standing very close so she can get to the camera to look at it quickly.



Last Friday we had nothing planned to do and it was raining, so we rented videos and let her choose for the first time. She chose Babe. This was her "seat" for part of the movie. The rest of it she was between us eating popcorn!


Out of order-these are from the Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house. My grandparents, aunt DeAnn and her husband David, uncle Steve, and our usual crew were all in town this year, which was fun. Leni had a good time having undivided attention for several days. She loves to dress up-these were some galoshes Mimi had in the dress up tent. (And, her Thanksgiving dress)

We had a birthday party for Gigi and Grandad's birthdays at Avery and Nathan's house. We didn't tell Elena that Cami was going to be there, just in case it didn't work out, but she was SO glad to see her!




Doing "head, shoulders, knees and toes".


Our small group had a shower for us last night, which was really nice! It was fun to celebrate Maeve coming. We had chili and Magpies cupcakes-yum! Elena helped open presents, and drug people to try to tell the kitties under the bed to "num-oh", which is "come on". It didn't work.

From Thanksgiving-with uncle Steve.
Playing downstairs with uncle David. All the big boys around the house were favorites this week.


Playing downstairs with Gigi and Deedee
Being sweet with her baby

Tonight everyone came over for dinner on their way back from our cousin Chelsea's wedding. (We didn't make it, seeing how a 22 month old and wedding don't go well together, plus the whole 8 month pregnant part). Here she's being sweet with Grandad.

David was playing guitar and she was dancing with her baby and polar bear.
Gigi was telling her she was a baby, and she loved it. She asked to be the baby twice, and has since asked me and Chris to hold her like a baby, cover her with a blanket, and has gotten out a few of Maeve's toys for herself to play with.
Magpies cupcakes and the really pretty table from the shower.
She REALLY wanted Kaori to sit in her lap. Kaori, who is almost as big as she is. Kaori was a good sport, and she's been looking at the pictures and saying her name tonight. She can't say her own name, but she says "Kaori" and "Emmy" for Emily. The L's are tricky for her.


Just one other quick story-
I took her to the nursery Sunday during church, and was getting juice for a couple of the kids who were out before I left. I saw her kneel down and tell a little girl who's new and kind of shy "hey", then ask if she wanted to "num-on" and slide, and told her the names of some of the other kids. It didn't work-the little girl didn't come play, but I was really touched by how she realized the little girl wasn't playing and tried to include her. This is definitely her daddy in her, but it's really sweet to see her little spirit coming out when it's unprompted. She is our sweetest girl!

35

Thursday, November 20, 2008

35 weeks down, 35 days to go. It's a little scary how close that is.

This week, professional, and old pictures

Friday, November 14, 2008

There are quite a few things in this post, and blogger didn't load them in order.

Today we went and had 21 month/Christmas pictures taken. Luckily I put a matching sweater on her, because she didn't want to take it off! She also didn't want to give up her baby doll. But, they turned out sweet. I'm not posting her "official" pictures we had printed yet so that they're a surprise when relatives get them this week, but I'll make sure to post them later!




In her Christmas dress...

















I went to Little Gym with Leni and Chris Tuesday night and took pictures, since I can't really do the activities very well at this point. I thought I was pretty good about getting her to try things, but she's very timid when I take her and doesn't want to do the special skills. Not so with her daddy! She was first in line to try everything! It's fun to see how different she is with each of us-I'm glad she's not afraid to take risks while he's with her!





One of the people who works with Chris had her little girl there for the first time that night also. She's the one to his right. Oddly, a girl I was in youthgroup with was there last week, and her husband and daughter were there this week.


Last time they blew up this big mat, Elena sat on the edge but didn't want to do much. This time (I guess after the Farragut moonwalk thing at Halloween) she jumped all over it!


Some older pictures that my aunt sent me. This one is just from our October trip to Atlanta

I love this pictures. I don't post naked pictures of her on here, but this one was too cute! (and, you can't see anything)
From a previous trip-she looks teeny!



Out of order-walking on the balance beam with daddy (which she won't do with me!)

That's all for now! This week we're having lots of my family in town, then going to Thanksgiving at Chris's parents, so I'm sure we'll have lots to post soon! Hopefully, we aren't going to be posting that we've had another small child until the end of December!










just info I'm glad about

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Just for anyone who's recently heard me complain about my OB, I got a new one! Very pro VBAC, going without pain meds, and birthing tubs (though I don't plan to actually give birth in one-just use it for labor) and was recommended by midwives at Lisa Ross and took me even though I'm almost 34 weeks! We are all very glad. Also, the only hospital he delivers in is St. Mary's, which is about 3 blocks from our house. After all that has happened with my OB, I am so glad to have a new one! (I do know other people who used my old OB and had good experiences, just not me) His name is Dr. Brabson-I went to see him on Monday and LOVED him-much more laid back (and significantly quicker) than Generations. Lots of sighs of relief over here...

random pics and a few from this week

Monday, November 10, 2008

Since I was not leaving the house much last week, I thought I'd throw in a few pictures that Avery sent me off her camera.

This is from Cami's birthday party in September. Elena LOVES cheese puffs, she just never gets them. She liked trying on Cami's sash, and Cami was gracious to let her. On a Cades Cove bike ride with Daddy-I don't know what they're doing here!


This is from yesterday-Daddy was throwing leaves and Elena was stomping in them.






We went to First Friday, even though it was raining. It was the Grand Opening for Magpies, the French Market, and Rita's water ice. Who could miss all that! Besides, we'd been stuck inside for days. Here we are at Magpies. It was really crowded, so we didn't get pictures of the food.

Playing with Titus at Avery and Nathan's on Ave's birthday-it's nice to have poor, defenseless cats with no claws to practice on!




At Avery's Chop House birthday dinner-tearing up paper

Playing with Sayley in the RV-I can't remember when this is either.


She has been so fun this week. She's really talking and says new things every day. This morning, for instance, she's said cereal, orange juice, blanket, couch, and sit down. All new for today. She's been teaching us how she perceives what we say to her, too, by the way she talks to her baby. Yesterday she sat her baby on the table, said "please" in a pleading voice, laid her down, said "thank you" in a relieved voice, and changed her diaper. She hates to have hers changed, and that's pretty much how it goes with us! She's really sharing well and enjoying being around people. We always have fun with her, but lately she's been so great to be around.