best friends.

how sweet are these best friends.

we have spent the morning dancing to the Mickey Mouse hot dog song,
eating scrambled eggs and banging on pots and pans.

we pulled out some hats and paraded up and down the hall.
Eleanor also decided on a fur coat and puffy vest over her leopard pajamas.
such a fashionista.

i love seeing these two playing together.
there are fights, and hitting and tattle-telling {eleanor}
but there are also kisses and tunnel races and throwing stuffed animals out of the crib.

some days i think i will pull my hair out if i have to tell them to stay out of the trash, stop climbing on the couch {side table, chairs, laundry baskets, tubs, insert anything they can climb on} or to give this back to him or her.
but i also stop and realize how lucky i am to get to stay home with them.
they aren't with a stranger every day or mixed in a class with a bunch of other kids.
they are here, safe and we have fun every day.

it also doesn't hurt that we are coming into a really fun age.
they are repeating lots of words and animal sounds and finding body parts.
they make me laugh constantly.
it's so fun to watch their little personalities really starting to shine.

15 months

15 months!
Size 4 Diapers
18-24 months in Clothing
23 pounds

You say 'Caw Caaaw' when someone asks what the bird says. I don't know why we chose this instead of a chirp or tweet lol, I blame it on your dad. But it's pretty darn funny to hear. And last night Grandma said, Eleanor you are such a little bird and she immediately let out a caaaaw caaw!!

You know quack quack for a duck and of course ssssss for a snake.

ALL dogs are "cutty" and apparently they are always barking so he is always, "Hush Cutty." We've been watching Dogs 101 on the weekends and your mind is blown from the amount of Cuttys on tv.

You say Oh moooom or mommm-meee in such a sing song voice. We can thank TT for that one.

Bedtime has been a challenge. We lay you down, you cry. We wait a while, go in & comfort you, then about 10 minutes later you cry again. It's an exhausting 30-45 minute ordeal. There were about 3 days in a row that I was having to go in around 3am and comfort you again. I am tweaking naptime a little so maybe we can start getting back into our normal routine!

If I'm in a different room from you and you want to find me, you shout out Maaaaaaa. It's a hilarious cross between a goat bleating and a New Jersey housewife accent. I die everytime.

You are still a great eater. Your favorites from this month have been lasagna (hands down), a mini cupcake Grandma brought you, oatmeal and sharing a bowl of cereal with Dad at night.

A climbing phase is on us. You can climb on the couch if the recliner is left up. Climb up on the brown chair. Climb up onto the end table and use it as a stepping stone to get onto the couch. I have about 15 mini heart attacks a day. But the funnier thing is, you don't always remember how to get down. So you will hold your hands out to me and if I walk on by, you will just wait until I come back through and try again.

Got your first real pop on the (diapered) hiney. I get soooo tired of hearing the constant screech/scream/shrill after every.little.thing. I told you if you did it again, I was going to spank you and you balled up those little fists and did it again, so I tapped you right on the bottom. Your eyes got as big as saucers and you started quivering that little lip. I had to turn around just to not laugh where you could see me.

HI KYLA. Your dad taught you this. It's hilarious (for now). Hi kyyuh.  You also say Hi TT and of course Hi Jase.

You know 'hot'. When you see Dad's coffee cup or my hair straightener or any stove/microwave you tell us hot. It doesn't really stop you from trying to get any of these things but you still recognize the word.

Everyday 2014

I was inspired by a few other blogs to better document our everyday! 1 picture from our day, everyday. I'll post once a week and I'm already 10 days late, haha!

Jan. 1

Ellie's first trip to Chuck E. Cheese, burgers with Dad & Oma, and precious time as a family to start off our new year.

Jan. 2

Eleanor is slowly taking over the living room.

Jan 3.

Climbing Phase. Oh my goodness. This is after I went to put some laundry away, came back to find her on the couch with the tablet. 

Jan. 4- Walking into Kapriel's basketball game like a big girl. Also gave quite the halftime performance, in the middle of the court, complete with twirling, blowing kisses and stealing the players water bottles.

Jan 5.

Playtime in our room with Howard

Jan 8

Sitting in the front seat, having a doughnut while we waited on Grandma to get home. 

Jan 9.

We got up and dressed and out the door for story time just to find out the library was closed. Chick Fil A breakfast and play area saved us!

Jan. 10

Jase's first day back with us in over 2 weeks. I think these two missed each other!

Eleanor's Spring Wish List

I was just sitting here browsing Old Navy, waiting on Eleanor to wake up from a {really late} nap.
When I got to her size, I got so excited I started screen capturing everything and sending it to my mom & sister,
it's no secret Eleanor isn't lacking in the clothing department.

So, thought I would save the pictures and maybe we can pick up a few pieces for the spring.
Although it's kind of hard to think about warmer weather with the snow on the ground outside. ;)

That gingham dress. I die.
And the sweet textured cardigan, sigh.

So cute.

Chuckie Cheese

Last week, we found ourselves with a little cabin fever.

It's been cold and Eric's been working so hard,

we just needed some family time!

We decided to take EK to Chuckie Cheese,

and it wasn't the worst $5 we ever spent. :)

She was too little for most of the games,

but she loooved the slide and rode a few rides.

And I loved spending time with my family

and watching that girl smile and play with her dad.

14 Month Update

I'm behind on my monthly updates, but here are some fun things that Eleanor does at this stage.

She backs her self up to sit on my lap.

Finally starting to give kisses when she's asked! She leans in, open mouthed like a shark for a kiss. And then makes the smack sound when she pulls away.

I tell her to "brings it to mama'' (a baby, a ball, my phone across the room- haha) and she is so proud of herself when she does!

'Dah' (more) after every round of "The More We Get Together"

She pulls out her pacifier with her tiny hand over the entire paci.

Goes to the pantry and stands in front of it saying more, more.

She reaches her little hands through the dog gate to pet the dogs. Or throw her toys in there for them to play with eat.

She tells them to HUSH every time they bark or whine.. which has carried over to telling PEOPLE to hush- including a little boy we were seated by at a restaurant the other day, every time he made a noise or cried!!

She hugs her baby, and kisses (licks) her and feeds her the bottle.

She's completely quiet when new people are around, but says HI as soon as they walk away.

When we count to 3, we say 1.... 2..... and then she puts both hands above her hands and says eeeeeee!

Loves to do in and out. A few pens and an empty apple juice bottle kept her entertained for days.

When she poots, she immediately laughs and looks around to see if anybody heard her. If we did and we laugh too, she will seriously stand there and try to do it again (and again!!)

LOVES baths. She will stand at the bathtub while I'm running the water and bounce up and down, she's in such a hurry!

Not all roses around here though, fits are more and more often. If she doesn't get fed fast enough, held when she wants, looked at the wrong way.. Wear me out, little girl!

She is such a good eater, and I can't think of anything that she will turn down. But right now, her favorites are green beans and mandarin oranges.

Things You Say: Hush, nuh uh, dah (more), dad, hi, hello (when she has a phone), hi jase, night night, eieio, row row row, mama, ... I know there are more I just can't think of!

Things You Do: Say 'ssssss' when we ask what a snake says, look up and point when we say where's the light, feed and love your baby, "wink" with both eyes, high five, lay down and say night night when you see a pillow or blanket on the floor, lay your head on my lap and rub my arms or legs and say night night, blows kisses- complete with the smack sound

queen of story time.

one of my very favorite activities during the week is story time.
we go every Thursday,
and I've been feeling a little brave and taking both of the babies on Monday, too.

its so fun to watch Eleanor interact with other toddlers her age.
she is in a bit of a kissing phase, so I do try to deter that a little.
{I don't want to!! But I know not every parent wants baby germs spread}

we do the same 5-6 songs at the beginning.
Eleanor's favorite is the popcorn song, where at the end she "POPS"
and I throw her in the air.
then there are bells to shake, a parachute to stand over and sometimes bubbles to pop.

We usually stay a little bit after its over and I just let her run around,
and recently, she has started going through the tunnels.
{and by that I mean going in halfway and just sitting}

Its such a great program that the library puts on.
Plus it seems like all the mommy and me classes are in Bentonville,
and it doesn't work for us to drive 45 minutes away.

So here a few pics from our storytime adventures: