Night out

Kev and I got to have a night out with our sweet friends Stuart and Amy on Friday for Amy's 30th birthday. We had such a wonderful time! Elliott is still small enough that we still bring her with us frequently when we go out to dinner, and although she is a really good baby, I can never truly relax because I'm worried she's going to grab something she shouldn't (like a cup full of water or a hot plate), or I'm trying to entertain her by dangling toys in front of her or giving her a straw to play with, or I'm trying to feed her. Regardless what I'm doing, I feel like I end up shoving my food down and not truly able to enjoy dinner conversation. Friday night was such a great time to just chat, enjoy a delicious meal and dessert from Legends, then we got to go to Scandals at OU.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Scandals and USing?! So much fun for multiple reasons. 1. It's like watching short Broadway shows. They are SO good and I think they get better each year. 2. I love to see the "college" fashion, although it usually makes me feel sadly unfashionable. Amy and I really enjoyed people watching, and seeing what the "kids" are wearing these days. Does that make us old?

We look pretty cool for a couple of moms, right? :)

My little sister came from Texas for the weekend and watched Elliott for us on Friday. It was such a huge blessing! We loved getting to spend time with her this weekend, and Elliott thought Aunt Lacey was pretty cool! Love ya Lace!!

The dreaded short nap

Does anybody know what I'm talking about? It can look different and happen at all times of the day, but I hate each and every one of them. It's the kind of nap that allows her to feel just rested enough that she doesn't want to go back to sleep but totally grumpy/needy because she didn't get enough sleep. I have found that she almost ALWAYS falls asleep when we go on walks...I guess the movement of the stroller is just too darn relaxing to stay awake. It doesn't matter if we go at the first, middle or end of her wake time...she always ends up asleep, and I can never transfer her to her crib and she won't stay asleep in her stroller. It's basically an impossible situation. I guess I could walk for two hours, but that doesn't seem worth it.

The other place she falls asleep is in the car. If I can get home shortly after she falls asleep, I can transfer her to her crib. If not, it's the curse of the short nap. Then I've got a whiny, "don't put me down", "I'm not happy" kind of girl on my hands. If she gets a good nap, it is a happy day at our house. Amazing what a difference sleep makes.

A "good" nap. The camera flash didn't even wake her up.

Miss Elliott has been going through a new phase lately. She just got her second tooth a couple of weeks ago, so she has been going through the "bite mommy while I'm nursing" phase. It's loads of fun, let me tell you. I feel like I'm talking to Truman, saying "Elliott, don't bite" over and over. Most of the time, she just gets a big grin on her face when I say that. Hmmm...something must be getting lost in translation. Sometimes I wonder if she thinks it's all a fun game. Don't get me wrong, I love to see her little teeth, but understandably not a big fan of getting bitten by them in a sensitive area. Anyone have any recommendations? I figure/hope she'll grow out of it, but surely others have had experiences with this.

First family picnic

I've been meaning to post these pictures for several days now, but obviously it hasn't happened. It is amazing how difficult it is to find the time to blog some days. I think I'm seeing this happen more frequently because the older Elliott gets, she is taking fewer naps and when she is awake, she is more active. I'm sure it's only the beginning of total life chaos. I can't wait! :)

Last Friday, we met Kev on campus for our first family picnic. Although it was a little cool and breezy, we had lots of fun, and I hope we are able to have many more picnics in the future. After we ate, we just walked around campus...never gets old.

Elliott was loving the grass. She had never seen such green grass before...almost looked good enough to eat. At least that's what she thought.

Gotta love midday daddy time!

Our sweet little family. Excuse her terribly mismatched outfit. I wasn't expecting it to be so chilly.

I was going to type more but the girl is awake so I guess I better go feed her lunch.

Family visit

My mom, dad, and one of my sisters were able to come for a visit this past weekend, and we had such a fun time together! Of course we didn't take any pictures together (welcome to the world of parenthood), but I did get some cute shots when they were playing with Elliott.

Papa "eating" Elliott's feet. She thought it was pretty funny!

Of course Truman ALWAYS wants to be part of the action!! My sister was amazed at how much Truman was like a strong-willed child. He is very demanding and always wants attention...unfortunately these traits worsen when we have company.

"Mimi, this necklace is fabulous! I must get one."

Just chilling with Aunt Anja.

Why do kids love to be upside down? I mean, do they really like the feeling of all the blood rushing to their head? I think the last time I stood on my head (which was quite some time ago), I felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out. Not fun!

"Love my Mimi!"

And I thought I would throw in a picture of me getting home from work. She was really excited to see me...I'm sure of it. :)

7 Months

Oh I feel like our baby is growing into a little girl so quickly! It's amazing how much she changes from month to month. Here's some things that were happening this past month in Miss Elliott's life:

• She got her first tooth! It actually came in when she was 7 months and 2 days, but I decided to include it in her 7 month stats. I have been trying to get a picture of the tooth (bottom left), but Miss E is determined that I don't. Her tongue sabotages a good view every time!
• She also has gotten way more into eating solids this month. Yay! So far, she eats anything I give her pretty easily. We still haven't tried her on any meats (gross!), and we're still introducing different veggies and fruits. I generally try to feed her oat cereal twice a day mixed with veggies/fruits/or a combo. I think she definitely prefers the stuff I've made (I think it tastes better too).
• I think she says "mmm" when she eats (although she might say it at other times too). I feel like she has looked at me and said "mama" but it could have been a total accident. :) I like to think it was intentional.
• She is down to eating 4 times a day (6-7 oz per bottle when we give it to her) and then I feed her solids with her morning and evening feedings. I'm thinking we might add a lunch solid feeding soon.

• She is wearing 9-12 month clothes but mainly 12 months! Such a growing girl! I feel like when we moved up to 12 month clothes we moved into the "toddler" section in some stores which is so crazy to me. No more onesies or one piece outfits!
• Wearing size 4 diapers and we're definitely having less blowouts...which might be due to the fact that she is eating solids and now occasionally struggles with constipation. I'm not sure which is worse...pooping all over yourself frequently or not being able to poop at all. It's a toss up.

• I think she has started developing some stranger anxiety and there are definitely times she just wants her mommy or daddy. She has started "reaching" for us...melt.my.heart.
• She is generally taking 3 naps a day still. She generally sleeps 45 minutes to 2 hours. It's always difficult to predict. I would like to transition to 2 longer naps, morning and afternoon, but this is proving to be more difficult than expected. She has gone through this phase where she wakes up after 45 minutes and won't go back to sleep but is grumpy. Drives me crazy!
• Since we moved down to 4 feedings, she has been going to bed at 7 or 7:30 and sleeping until 7. Fabulous! She does sometime wake up at 5 wanting her paci but will go right back to sleep.

• She loves reaching for EVERYTHING! Gone are the days of holding her while we eat. She grabbed my soup bowl tonight...scary!
• She loves throwing things. When we let her sit and play, we usually surround her with toys. In, oh 2 minutes, all those toys are out of reach. Pretty incredible.
• Not showing any interest or signs of crawling, which is nice for us. The only times she scoots around is when she's in her bed.

• She loves to chew on anything and everything...her toys, our clothes, her clothes, pillows, anything she can get her mouth on.
• She still loves to hear us sing. She has also started enjoying playing peek-a-boo and patty cake.

• She still LOVES Truman! He's pretty much her favorite. If she is ever grumpy, we can just watch him and it makes her feel all better. He's still pretty indifferent to her, but he LOVES to lick her.
• She loves to flap her arms, especially when she's excited. Makes us laugh.

She is such a precious girl and we are so thankful for every second we have with her!

Long weekend

I am loving this weekend for several reasons. First, Kev took off on Friday and I don't work Fridays so long weekend for us...yay! Second, we tried to plan minimal things this weekend so we could have extended time to hang out as a family. LOVE LOVE this! Don't get me wrong, I like busy weekends too, but since we made it back from our trip, I have been playing catch up and sadly failing (think a really dirty house with lots of laundry). Now, our free weekend has included some cleaning, laundry, and time with friends, but it has been very casual and unplanned which has been so refreshing.

So excited!

Tonight is "date night" and we're trying a new restaurant on Campus Corner. Exciting!

Random side note...E is going through a stage where she does NOT want to look at the camera. So the only way I can get her to look is by holding a toy up...hence the always looking away pictures. :) But it's either that or looking down.