Eleanor's Party

We celebrated her 1st with a super simple party. No theme. A third the size of Avery's first. Minimal decorations. No stress. She cried at first because of all of the people, but she warmed up to the crowd (sort-of). She honestly wasn't too involved in her own party and eventually went off to play in her room by herself. But, we had fun, she was celebrated, and now we can go enjoy her second year.

the invite, courtesy of Paperless Post, address blocked out :)

I cried when picking these out

My current favorite white cake recipe - vanilla bean, fancied up with plum compote and white chocolate buttercream. The frosting was underwhelming. But the cake was cute and simple.

brownies as favors; caption reads:
So glad you could come
to help us celebrate
Eleanor turning ONE!

cousins Peyton and Emily hard at work cooking 

Avery is very methodical in some things. Notice the cookies all lined up.

sis-in-law Julie, sis Michelle, me

Luke's grandma's banana pudding recipe

There are too many girls in this family. Luke didn't stand a chance.

ate a few sprinkles, and that was about it

not too impressed

last photo of her eating cake. this was all she had, and as messy as she got.

she's in love with her new shoes from Great-Great Aunt Mary (she's doubly great, though  we usually shorten it to Aunt Mary :)

I think she was a little stressed

the bigger girls helped open the gifts because Eleanor wasn't interested in that task

We got her a baby doll because she keeps stealing Avery's dolls. She'll have nothing to do with this one though. :/

Grayson eyeing the gifts

Aunt Haley getting some giggles out of her

her morning after look. 

Monday Musings

• Potty incident: Avery poops and hops off the pot when finished, Eleanor drops a box of raisins in the toilet, I have to fish it out, toss them in the trashcan, turn around to wash my hands, and then look back to see Eleanor trying to grab the poop.
• Two days later, Eleanor crawls in with a box of raisins. I almost opened them to give to her, but a light clicked on in my brain, and I ran back to the bathroom to check. Sure enough, the trashcan was toppled over and toilet paper was everywhere. These were the poop raisins.
• Avery started dance again today, and there is a world of difference between now and her very first class. We switched studios, and I am loving it. It's a full hour of non-stop moving, whereas the last studio had too much downtime which made it hard for the kids to stay focused. Avery is also more confident and has a friend in class with her which helps put her at ease. She was one of the most spirited girls in there towards the end - not out of control, just very enthusiastic about each step.
• We're trying to phase out diapers for naps and bedtime. We forgot to put one on her two nights ago, and she woke up dry. We've survived two naptimes (dry), and last night I woke her up before I went to bed, but sometime between midnight and 7, she had an accident. We're trying again tonight. I think she just uses the diaper because it happens to be there, but she doesn't really need it. We'll see how it goes for a week or two. 
• Eleanor is getting better at walking each day! It's still mostly only a step or two at a time, but I've seen her take a step on her own before lunging for the furniture, when it used to be only under extreme duress because I was dangling a toy in front of her.
• Avery has a shopping cart at home, and one at Nonnie's house. Last weekend at Nonnie's, it flipped and we found her stuck on the underside, dangling in the air caught between the wheels. This week she did it again at home, only this time her face caught the handlebar as it flipped over. Not so funny this time - poor girl! It took awhile to comfort her. I've parked the shopping carts for awhile.
• Eleanor is a big climber, and she's so creative at figuring out how to get up on the couches. Today she pulled a basket to the couch, flipped it over, and stepped up on it. She then used my knee and Luke's face as step-stools too. 
• I read recently that mothers get a significant percentage less sleep than fathers. This is absolutely true. I need to find the article.
• We put a bunch of pictures up at Eleanor's birthday party, including some of me pregnant. Avery turned to me, touched my belly, and asked who was in there. I'm going to say that it was probably because of the photos, but perhaps I need to exercise a bit more. Or at all. 

To My Youngest, On Your 1st

Dear Eleanor,

A year ago today you entered our lives, just barely squeaking in past midnight. (Thank you for that extra free day at the hospital, by the way.) We waited to find out if you would be a boy or girl, and the name war that ensued was brutal. I am even more thankful that you are a girl, otherwise I'd be writing to Atlas Reason Presley. It makes me shudder still.

Joking aside...you, sweet girl, were the one bright spot in a really hard year. God knew exactly how much I would need you this year, how your birth would be a healing, how your presence would be a comfort, how your smiles and laughs would bring delight on the darkest of days. You lay your head on my shoulder, I breathe in your baby scent, and I say a prayer of thanks for you.

You are truly full of joy. You are a funny little thing, curious about everything around you. You explore all day long, trying to figure out how things work. You stop and grin at me on your way to another room, usually to find your big sister. I love to watch the two of you playing together.

You are serious. And fearless. You really seem to examine what's around you and then try to make it your own. You are our mobile child. Avery has always been verbal, but you are the complete opposite. Exploring and hands-on activity is more your style.

I am so curious as to who you are going to grow up to be. Sometimes when I look at you and Avery, I feel the weight of this responsibility, to raise you both up in the Lord. What an honor, and how frightening sometimes! We are blessed with amazing family and friends to support us as we parent you.

You and I have come a long way together. A diabetic pregnancy that ended with an emergency trip to the hospital and bedrest for half of my third trimester. An amazing birth experience. The loss of your grandfather. The stress of life that distracts me from my role as mom sometimes. Through it all, you (and Avery) have been a constant reminder of God's graciousness and lovingkindness.

A little sappy, a lot serious, and all honesty, because hard years exist. It wouldn't be true to your history to pretend otherwise, but neither should we dwell on the bad, for God has blessed us immeasurably. I long for you to never know heartache, but I know God has a reason for all things. There are so many life lessons that I am eager to teach you, but for now, please be my baby for awhile.

I love you.

Mommy

12 Months. One Year. ONE!

Look who's no longer "less than 1"...our sweet baby Eleanor! And she's almost no longer a baby - she's outgrowing that way too quickly.

This past month:

• climbing, climbing, climbing
• took her first steps!! She will walk up to 4 steps at a time, usually when she's agitated and trying to get to me, or if there is a toy that she really wants that I hold out of her reach to make her walk. Crawling is still her main mode of transportation, and she's really fast at it, so I think real walking might be a ways off. 
• started saying ma-ma. I think she's also said "nigh-nigh" a few times and "ah-da" (all done) once. 
• quietly talk to yourself sometimes, and shriek when you're really excited, but most of the time you are pretty quiet
• tried some spicy mac n cheese and ate all of it, as well as some spicy soba noodles
• still a champion eater, though she does show preferences.
• showed almost zero interest in birthday cake. She is the complete opposite of Avery, who has the biggest sweet tooth. Eleanor picked at the sprinkles on her cake, smooshed the cake a little bit, and then gave up on it
• cut 2 more teeth, for a grand total of three! She's been happier since those two came in, and she is so fun right now! She's also working on a fourth tooth, but it doesn't seem to bother her as much this time.
• claps frequently and waved for the first time last week when a guy at Chick-fil-a kept making faces at her. 
• plays independently so well that I frequently have to wander around a bit to find her.
• cries when Daddy leaves for work and demands that he pick her up immediately upon his return at the end of the day. He barely has time to put his keys and bag down.
• still has separation anxiety
• we're easing back into cloth diapers. We were in survival mode for so long, but I'm ready to start them again. I miss the diaper sprayer though - our toilet doesn't seem to want it to be hooked up, and neither of us know how to work around that problem. 
• is fascinated by the trash can. So glad I can lock it.
• has started to reject the morning nap. I'd say we're successful at getting her down for two naps a day roughly half the week. I'm holding onto it for now, but honestly, it is easier if we don't have to schedule around the morning nap. This transition is just happening SO much earlier than it did with Avery. 
• moves her hands in a very distinct way. I have no idea how to describe this. It's almost like she's signing "milk", but it's not because she's asking for milk. She just does it kind of off-handedly (no pun intended). 

We love you, Tiny Love!!

(okay, picture fail - no 12 month photos yet because I haven't taken them off the camera and I have to post this before midnight. I'd be terrible as a professional blogger.)

Conversations with Avery

My sister and I took the kids out for lunch one day. We had Texadelphia, and everyone knows that cheese-steaks are yummy and delicious and have bits of chopped meat. Avery stuck her hand out to Aunt Michelle, said, "Can you please take this?" (it's common knowledge that Avery hates meat as well), and handed it over to my sister. Michelle grabbed the piece from Avery without really looking at it, only to discover it was actually a big BOOGER stuck to her finger, not a bit of meat. She shuddered with disgust, started laughing, and cried, "I'm such a novice mom!" She'll learn one day.

One night Avery got in trouble for screaming at me. Luke told her that she needed to apologize to me, telling her how sad and hurt it made me to have her speak that way. She walked up to me, her eyes nearly watering, and asked, "Mommy, do you have a broken heart? I am sorry for screaming at you. I love you!" Oh, melt my heart. She can be so difficult and then so awesome. I love that kid.

She is learning to tell time. We're impressed with how often she gets the time correct.

In the car, singing: "The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me. I stand alone (on the Word of God), the B-I-B-L-E." She gets the song a bit jumbled there in the middle sometimes. She then asked each one of us to sing it. And then for Eleanor to sing it. We explained that Eleanor couldn't sing it yet, so Avery sang it for her.
"The B-I-B-L-E, Eleanor, yes that's the book for me, Eleanor. I stand alone on the Word of God, Eleanor. The B-I-B-L-E, Eleanor!"

She recognizes songs more and more, especially ones from her kids' music that they also sing at church, so she is always asking if this is a song "like they sing in Bible study?" I love how wonderful our children's program is!

She is also a fan of "10,000 Reasons", as is Mommy, and she loves when it comes on the radio.

When asked who her favorite aunt was, Aunt Haley or Aunt Lela (Luke's sisters), she looked back and forth at them and answered, "Aunt Haley!" This is huge, because Avery as a baby was scared of Aunt Haley. Hard-won victory there.

A typical trip to the bathroom used to go like this:
Avery announces that she has to go, and takes herself. "No, don't come in!"
I wait nearby in case she needs help. She then yells for me to come help with some aspect of it - sometimes it's turning a light on, or helping her get clothes up or down, or wiping depending on 1 or 2, to which she then points and announces if it's 2, then "Go away! Don't help me!" She finishes and may or may not need help with hand-washing or lights, and I can be in and out of that bathroom half a dozen times depending on what she did in there, what she is wearing, and if there is a stool or not. She's such an interesting mix of dependence and independence these days. Lately, though, she's been able to go start to finish by herself with only a gentle reminder to wash her hands.

"Eleanor, no-no. I'm not your Mommy. I'm Avery Jane. And I'm dancing."

Having a conversation with me in the car, it gets pretty lengthy, when all of a sudden she says, "Mommy, are you done talking?" Well, I guess I am now!

When laughing with my great-aunt and my mom at something funny Avery had said, she looked at us and said, "What are you laughing about at me?" We explained that we were simply laughing at something cute she had said, not laughing at her. She put on a very serious face and pointed at my mom..."Nonnie!" We took that to mean "I know you'll tell me the truth, Nonnie, and you better do it right now!"

"Oh my gosh, that's terrible!" I still have no idea what was terrible.

Made-up conversations on her cell-phone (toy) with various people. Today it was Mrs. Grooms. I wonder what they talked about, since I only caught it at the very end of the conversation. :)

Lately she's been pushing hard for us to go eat at the "restauronk" more often. She loves to go out to eat.

Happy 30th, Daddy!

Luke turned 30 last week, so we traveled to Houston for a surprise party his sister and I put together for him. It's hard to keep something a secret anyways, but keeping it a secret when you have to travel out of town for it with half the food, clothing for a weekend, and two kids - now that's work. But, I managed to pull it off, and we were able to celebrate with a simple family party. No pics of the rest of the fam, of course, because I never remember. But, Happy Birthday, Daddy! We hope this year and this next decade is full of blessings for you.

hooray! 30 is awesome! And Avery has her finger up her nose.

man cupcakes: maple cupcakes with milk chocolate ganache and candied bacon

cousin Kyleigh and Avery

cousins Peyton, Avery, and Kyleigh

even Eleanor got a mustache!

Uncle Aaron proving to us that Eleanor likes him. Avery was always terrified of him. 

Overall, a really good time. Lots of food. Lots of laughs. Almost-tattoos. Many mustaches and cute babies. Sometimes mustaches on cute babies. We missed having Lela and Josh and Luke's parents there - it is always hard to have family spread out.

We love you gobs and gobs, Daddy!

Girls' Weekend

What do you get when you pair two three year olds and two 11 month olds? A wild and crazy weekend. It's like two sets of twins, but with the added bonus of extra mom hands to help out. The girls and I traveled to Waco a couple weeks ago to visit my friend Elisabeth and her girls while her hubs was away for work.

We had the best time visiting and playing! The girls got along quite well, especially for so much face-time, and the babies were their typical easygoing selves. Avery had a few meltdowns, and the weekend seemed like one crazy event after the other thanks to the weather, but flexibility was key and we had fun! Plus, Annie is one of the funniest, coolest kids I've ever met (next to mine, of course).

I baked with the girls Friday night - Annie was so excited to have a pastry chef help her make cupcakes (see EMU's post for pics), and we baked grown-up desserts (tarts) the next night after the girls were down. Once the girls were in bed for the night, Elisabeth and I had lots of catch-up time. It's nice to have hours of uninterrupted talk time with a good friend, especially one who is in the same stage of life right now.

This was also Avery's first sleepover experience, and let.me.tell.you - this was the best free entertainment I've ever had. They shared a room each night, and as soon as we tucked them in, we'd race downstairs to listen on the monitor. They talked for at least an HOUR each night. Both of them are quite talkative by nature, and they just shared everything on their minds that weekend. Some favorites:

"Annie, do you love Jesus?" I love God. "So you don't love Jesus?"

Avery: "I put my lovey on my bottom." Annie: "I put my lovey on my bottom too!"

Annie: "If you have to go to the bathroom, just tell me and I'll take off your diaper and pull your pants down and put you on the potty." (This was a recurring theme and they'd circle back to it every 15 minutes or so.)

Concerns about a cricket in the room, from a story Annie told about a bug her mom killed. It was really a cockroach, and apparently it's now in heaven. With God and Jesus and D-dad (Annie didn't know what a D-dad was.)

A discussion about an event that transpired while playing earlier on Saturday, in which Avery hurts Annie's feelings, words were misunderstood, and sweet Annie tried to express her feelings on the matter. I don't know that Avery ever really got it. But, to hear those two try and work it out on their own - melt my mama heart!

Annie fell asleep first Friday night - it was silent for a couple minutes, and then we hear, "Annie? Annie. ANNIE!" Avery settled for talking to herself for the next few minutes before also falling asleep.

Saturday night, Annie: "Now, when your mommy comes in to tell us to be quiet and no more talking, don't talk. We have to stop talking. It's time to go to sleep. And when she comes in, don't cry. And when she leaves, don't cry." Guess who did too much crying!

They also practiced their diving off the end of the beds (for the Olympics, of course). It's a favorite past-time of Annie's these days. 

We took a trip to Baylor (where Luke and I went to college and also where Elisabeth's hubby just started teaching) where we saw one of the bears, got soaked in the rain, dumped both big girls out of the stroller onto the sidewalk resulting in massive amounts of crying, stopped at Common Grounds for a break from the rain and some good coffee, and showed Avery a bit of the campus where Mommy and Daddy met. We also convinced hundreds of college students to delay having children for awhile.

the only pic I have of Elisabeth from the whole weekend, and Sally! This was pre-rainstorm, at the bear pit.

At least I look happy. Neither of the girls wanted to pose for a picture.

We visited my old church, Redeemer, on Sunday and enjoyed a potluck (of course I picked the weekend there would be free food) where we got to visit with old friends and meet some great new people. The older girls had fun in their class, but the mamas were paged out at the exact same time for the babies. It looked like we were ditching the sermon. Oops.

silly girls

sad faces because it was time to go home to Austin

Thank you, Ueckers, for such a wonderful weekend! We can't wait to see you gals again soon!

**If I can figure out how to get it off my phone, I have a video of a portion of the girls' conversation from Friday night. I'll post here for your extreme entertainment.