Visit from the Jolliffs!

This past weekend, we had the Jolliffs to come visit!  Kristin is still on her maternity leave and Matt was off for spring break, so they decided to spend a few days in Iowa visiting us and Elaine!

Kaleigh, who is 3, took an immediate liking to Elaine, and the feeling was definitely mutual!  Watching these two light each other up brought me immense joy.

Here are our two daddies with the kiddos!  Luke is 2 months - what a doll.

Here we are having lunch at Palmer's.  We were all good eaters, so we all got dessert, even Kaleigh!

Saturday turned into quite a stormy afternoon and evening, so we decided to make it a fiesta inside and Kristin made us all her famous guacamole.  It was such a treat - she really knows what she's doing!

One of my favorite things is Kaleigh's pretend playing.  She loves to play mommy and daughter, as well as teacher and student.  Here she is doing a combo, reading Elaine some books.  I use the term "reading" fairly loosely...

Of course I had to get a video.  I should have mentioned, Kaleigh took a pretty nasty spill before they came to our house.  Poor girl!

Here is a closeup of the cutey Luke with Elaine.  He was so happy and chatty!!

Here's the grand finale photo just before they had to leave on Sunday morning.  It was SO great to see them and that they were able to make the trip to come visit! 

Happy Easter!

For Easter, we headed to Peoria to enjoy our extended Easter weekend with family.   Here is our little bunny in all her glory, with her Easter dress, complete with headband, flower, AND bunny ears.  What a sport. 

One of the fun things to watch is the two girls, Lauren and Elaine, who are 7 months apart.   Elaine is already looking up to Lauren.

They are equally interested in each other, and Lauren points at Elaine and says "bee-bee" ( baby).

Here is Eric with his happy little Easter dolly.

She was such a sport wearing the flower almost all night!

We had an egg hunt in my parent's backyard - here are the kiddos just before they filled their baskets with eggs.  So fun to watch!

My grandparents also came to visit and see Elaine.  They really enjoy watching her grow and Elaine LOVED her great grandma's sound effects while reading a book about barn animals. 

I had to share a video of Elaine's giggles.  She LOVES her daddy!!

Bubbles and Bunnies!

This weekend, we were able to attend a special event co-chaired by Nikki and Kylee, called Bubble Ball.  It is perhaps the most unique (and fun) event I've been to in a while.  It is a fundraiser for ChildServe, a really reputable organization in our area that provides services and care for families and children with special needs.  We have seen friends and co-workers who have directly benefited from this organization, and so it was a triple bonus to get to go - it was fun, it helped support our friends, and it helped a great cause! 

When we entered, we were greeted with bubbly, on to the open bar, and filet mignon for our dinner.  The vibe was very high energy, not stuffy or too heavy.  There were brazilian violinists that danced around for 3 hours, playing current-day music - I called them Des Moines' slightly more classy version of LMFAO.  Then after a delicious dinner came the fun part.  There was a fashion show where local businesses created masterpieces (think Project Runway - LIVE) out of bubble wrap inspired by children's fairy tales.  Really unbeleivable stuff!  We also fashioned our own bubble accessories.  Here are some fun pics.  Here is Erin, me, Nikki, and Kylee.

And here are the guys with their bubble wrap bowties.

Eric and I really enjoyed an evening on the town indulging in all the fun this party had to offer!

Today, we visited the mall to get Eric a few pre-birthday goodies.  Of course we had to visit the Bunny!  Here is Eric and Elaine near the line.  We lucked out and were able to walk right up, no waiting!

Elaine's first encounter with the Easter Bunny!  This is her "I need a nap" face.  Mostly a non-event, but an important first before she gets stranger danger!  :)

Spring has sprung!

The arrival of spring is a welcome one! The blossoms are on the trees, the coats are being shed, and the grass is green. Elaine got a new sunhat, which is a new experience for her.  It is hilarious watching her wear it for the first time.  Here's a short clip for your viewing pleasure.

Double bonus for being a day late blogging - here's a second video of Elaine as she watches me cook on a normal weeknight.  Her budding personality continues to crack us up!

Here she is reading her bumble bee book - the laughter just keeps coming from our little lady!

Saturday night we had dinner at the Grefe's and Elaine stayed up later than normal, and eventually she just conked out!  What a party animal.

Over the weekend, Eric was a BUSY daddy getting ready for spring, bringing the deck furniture out of the shed, mowing the lawn for the first time of the season, weeding, trimming, mulching and more!  Elaine and I watched from the shade.  She enjoyed being outside and wearing the new hat! 

Grandpa Mike's St.Patrick's 60th birthday!

The Morses spent a very unseasonably warm weekend in Wisconsin to celebrate Grandpa Morse's 60th birthday, which falls on St. Patrick's Day!  Eric's dad did not know we were coming so it was really fun to walk up to the door and ring the doorbell to a very surprised birthday boy!  On our drive up, Elaine spent one of her first afternoons with no socks.  This newfound access to her feet provided at least a half hour of entertainment and interest on our drive.  Who knew feet were so interesting!?  Here she is smiling at her feet.  You can also see she is quickly outgrowing her carseat!  Time for a big girl carseat very soon!

On Mike's birthday, he had plans to go to the model railroad show in town, so we tagged along for the fun!  Elaine watched the trains with interest and Eric enjoyed showing her something he used to do as a kid.

For dinner, we went to the Freighthouse, which is Lacrosse's top notch steakhouse.  Elaine experienced her first dinner in a highchair!  She LOVED sitting up with us like a big girl. 

Here is Eric with our cute little St. Patty's girl.

Sunday it was so nice that Eric's favorite drive-in (Rudy's) was open and we managed to grab a picnic table at a nearby park before we hit the road.  What a great way to end the weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather. 

Daddy's First Night Away

Tonight is the first night Eric will spend away from his girls. He's at a Radiohead (his favorite band in the whole world) concert in Kansas City. So of course to mark this event, I put on Elaine's Radiohead onesie that she got from her uncle Dan! I had to throw in some pink so she didn't look too much like a boy. 

While daddy was gone, we decided to make a long overdue visit to our friends Nick and Kelly Price and their two boys, Burke and JD.  JD is already 2 months old and he is such a strong and happy little guy!  Holding a newborn is a reminder to me of how much Elaine has grown since the day she was born.  JD and I match!

Elaine normally has bathtime with daddy and I am in charge of towel-time.  Tonight we got crazy in the bath with daddy gone (okay, that's not true, she was shivering so we actually made it a quick bath).  This is, however, her second bath in the big-girl tub.  No more baby tubs for this growing girl!  Can you believe it?

And of course, the most popular question as she approaches 8 months is: "is she crawling yet"?  I can firmly say no, but she can shimmy, roll, rotate, and lean her way to just about any toy she finds.  She can crawl backwards in her attempts to move forward, but I'm not counting that as crawling yet.  She's really working to get up on all fours and I think she's well on her way!  Here's a sample.

Happy Birthday Grandma Frost!

This weekend, Elaine's grandma and grandpa Frost came to visit!  We had a really nice visit and it happened to be my mom's birthday weekend so we tried to make it special for her.  Friday night we had dinner at home featuring shrimp.  We also played cards (NERTS), which is now a favorite/addiction!  Saturday, we all went to Elaine's swim lesson, and relaxed at home in the afternoon.

I happened to snap a picture of Elaine's favorite sleeping position during her afternoon nap.  This new iphone is allowing me to capture so many more funny moments of our girl!

We had a casual dinner at Gateway Market, where we took this picture:

Sunday morning we had a birthday brunch at Granite City before my parents hit the road back to Peoria. We enjoyed every minute of their visit and hope they'll come back again soon! Here are the 3 generations!

Here is the birthday girl with her granddaughter!

Here is Elaine reading "That's Not my Puppy".  I couldn't resist sharing this one, as she's just becoming more and more interested in books!

I also have to share two humorous videos.  I just find it so funny to watch Elaine eat her banana puffs.  She's still getting the hang of it, as you can see!

This one is blurry (sorry) but quite entertaining to see how happy and funny she is when she is entertained with song and dance.  I am also demonstrating my usual multitasking in the kitchen.  I normally try to put on some kid tunes, since, perhaps do a little dance (clapping or snapping really get her going), and cook!  Gotta make the most of every minute, right?  This song is one of my/her favorites.  Always gets me hopping around the room.   PS - the safest place to be is behind the lens of the camera - there's a reason you don't see me in any of the videos!  :)