happy easter 2016

posted by mommy and daddy

for easter, we all got dressed up for church and planned on going to an easter party with some friends from church. however, the boys experienced some attitude issues that ended up making us miss the event. so we decided to have our own egg hunt in the wonderful colorado snow.

cute easter dress

cute easter smile

serious easter face

owen and eloise...evie was upset so protested the pic

hunting for eggs on a snowy easter

navigating the snowy terrain

the colorful eggs stood out against the snow

naps and lovies

posted by eloise

when i wake up from a good nap and have my favorite lovie, i'm a very smiley baby.

i'm awake

all smiles after a good nap

my favorite pink zebra lovie

chewing on my lovie

we are inseparable

my lovie and me

winter wonderland...in spring!

posted by owen and everett

around here, spring can still mean snow. lots of snow. we got around 18 inches in less than a day at our house and while daddy slaved away at shoveling, we both just had fun. daddy even piled most of it on one big hill so we could go sledding. the snow definitely made it difficult to get around, but it was so much fun to jump around in it.

they say we had a blizzard

even bella got in on the action. she just blended in.

it's difficult to walk in 18+ inches of snow

so the best option is to just crawl

we have a backyard somewhere under this snow

crawling

posted by eloise

i finally figured out how to coordinate my movements into an actual crawl. although i still prefer army style!

eloise: 11-month update

posted by mommy

1. nursing - daytime nursing has decreased some, mainly cause i am trying to transition eloise into eating first, nursing after...and oftentimes the after meal nursing doesn't come til before nap. so, during the day we nurse 4-5 times. nighttime nursing has increased again to generally twice a night, mainly because she has cut three teeth in the last month with another almost through, so comfort nursing is what helps her through at night (that and hylands teething tablets and copaiba oil!).
2. eating - finally her desire for table foods has picked up! she still doesn't like bananas or plain yogurt. but she does like mashed potatoes, chicken, bread, soup, etc. true faves are still root veggies, apples, strawberries, and cheese. she has also finally decided she likes scrambled eggs as long as they have salt and pepper.
3. growth - eloise is definitely growing as some of her current 6-12 month clothes are getting a bit more snug, and some of the 12m+ stuff is starting to fit!
4. development - we continue to see lots of fun advancements with eloise. within even the last week, she is finally pushing up to her hands and knees, and even has crawled like that a couple times. tho, she is still much faster army crawling so that continues to be her preference. she is also realizing she can climb on and over things so we often find her up on stools and such...she may end up being another ev!
5. sleeping - she is still taking two daytime naps, in the morning around 11 for 1.5-2 hours and in the afternoon around 3:30 for 1.5-2 hours. since she has continued teething this past month, she has mostly woken twice at night, but a few nights did better and only woke once (usually only if mommy remembered teething pills and oil!).
6. overall demeanor - we have been having a lot of fun with eloise this last month as we have seen her truly advance in the area of all she is realizing she can do. she is rarely fussy, and loves to laugh!
7. favorite things - eloise absolutely loves her brothers and wants to play wherever they are. she also enjoys throwing her voice around, and playing with her little people noah's ark. you can also be assured that if music is playing, eloise is dancing. but her most fave thing of all is totally her lovie...the pink zebra one most of all!

happy 11-month birthday eloise!

posted by eloise

sitting for pictures is so overrated. i prefer to be more adventurous.

yeah for birthdays!

posted by mommy

this past week we celebrated my birthday. james planned a wonderful birthday experience surprise last saturday and took us all downtown to eat and play. it was so fun to get out of the suburbs and be around so many people! there was a st. patrick's day event going on downtown so there really were a lot of people out and about.

we ate a casual but delicious lunch at uber eats, went for a walk and threw rocks in the river, and ate delicious ice cream at little man ice cream!

waiting for our delicious food

walking across a cool bridge over the highway, making our way to the park

i couldn't ask for a better birthday...or a better family!

throwing rocks in the platte river

love love love

ev trying to get his mouth around his "kid size" vanilla cone
owen taking another bite of his monster-sized peanut butter and
chocolate ice cream sandwich (made even more decadent
dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with salt!

a beautiful day perfect for a sweet treat!

no need to go across the street to the park,
there was a slide right there on the patio

evie never let his cone go...taking bites in-between slides

owen actually did a really good job with the hula hoop out on the upper patio

i also received a few other surprises on my actual birthday!

james came home with decadent chocolate oreo cupcakes from whole foods!

the boys brought me rainbow roses they picked out all by themselves

gorgeous flowers from my in-laws!

even eloise got in on a little oreo action!

thank you family for a wonderful, memory-making birthday!

awana grand prix 2016

posted by owen and everett

this year we wanted daddy to make steelers derby cars. we helped him figure out the shape, design and even helped with the spray paint. our cars did so much better than last year. in the four heats each of ours was in, owen came in first once and second three times while everett came in first twice and second twice. we even wore our jerseys to match our cars. it was so much fun watching the derby and playing all the carnival games at this years awana grand prix.

i'm on the move

posted by eloise

it seems i am moving more and more each day. mommy and daddy finally had to lower my crib to make sure i don't try to pull myself out of it.