Overdue post - August and September!

It's been far too long since a blog post so at the very least I want to post some photos! I'm discovering I have more readers than I realized! Sorry that they're in no particular order! Enjoy... Office remodel photos coming soon!

Elaine Climbs the Stairs

Special update featuring Elaine's latest performance - climbing the entire flight of stairs!  And then a mini flight ( for extra credit).  Ta da!

Finally enjoying the outdoors!

With a much needed break from the heat, we have been spending as much time outside as we can!!

This is my first blog post from my phone so hopefully it is a success. We went to the fair, saw the animals, played a little on the playground, watched all the people and returned home exhausted!

Elaine is enjoying exploring and has found the stairs! For a little girl who is too afraid to let go of our hands to walk solo, I'm shocked she is brave enough for this!

Other pics of our target run and her first piggies (pigtails) make her mama and papa smile!!

Birthday - Part 2

Last week, we headed to Peoria for my grandpa Frost's funeral. We left Wednesday, just after Elaine got her 12 month shots. She did pretty great with those, but she did hyperventilate a little, I think from the pain/fear.

Thursday Night
We got to have a belated birthday celebration for Elaine on Thursday.  Here is Lauren giving her cousin a little snuggle.  She loves to point at Elaine and say "bee-bee"  (baby)!  It is the most precious thing.

I took a bunch of my decorations from her ladybug party, so here are 3 generations with their party hats on!

I love a good party hat pic, and you can also see the Elmo balloon from Aunt Missy in the background.  I think every single kid took their turn playing with it that night.

Here is my cousin Shannon (although I think of her more as one of Elaine's aunts) with Elaine.

Missy did her usual magic with the cake - it was the coolest Elmo cake I've ever seen!  Elaine thought so too.  Here she is sneaking a taste.

Yup, it tastes every bit as good as it looks!

Here is the banner (thanks pinterest) that I made and kept forgetting to get a decent photo of.

And of course we had to pile the kids on the couch for a cousin photo!  Here are all 5!

Lauren had just a little more love to give Elaine. 

I can only imagine what they're saying to each other in their own secret language.

Here's a photo of the boys playing "Guess Who?"  I forgot how much I LOVED this game!  We ended up playing 3 on 3.  I am loving remembering all the games we played for hours as kids!

Here's Elaine playing on one of her new toys the next morning!

One last stop to see our cousins before we had to head back!  I love being an aunt and I love being a mom.  And I love seeing these two recreate so many scenes from my sister and my childhood.  It's so much fun to watch and I only wish they got to do it more!

July 19th - a day to celebrate two lives.

Well, as excited as I've been with Elaine turning 1, I must also think about something else significant that happened on Thursday. My grandfather, Robert Frost, 88 years old, passed away that evening. I guess in a way it's kind of neat that Elaine got to meet him and bring some joy to him and my grandma in his final year, and there's something uplifting about thinking about new life on a day we are forced to let go of someone else.

In a strange way, it's almost my yearly reminder that life cannot be planned.  We can't predict how birth will happen.  A year ago, I will never forget when the nurse told me Elaine was breech, and that we were going to have to change gears and do a c-section.  And a year later to the day, I'll always remember the phone call from my mom saying he was gone.  No matter how much we plan, we really have to surrender control to a higher power.

As I prepare the eulogy for his funeral that my grandma asked me to deliver, I am reminded of all the fun memories I have of my grandpa.  Here we are at a summer picnic at my parent's house a few years ago.

I even found this photo of us hugging after Eric and I got married!

This HAS to be one of my favorites, it's him dancing at my wedding with my closest friends!  I just love the look on his face. 

Here is one of the times he and Elaine met over the last year.  It is strange to think how these two are now tied together in this day of remembrance.

One more photo of us together makes me smile to recall how much he meant to us.  We will miss you, Grandpa.  

Lainey-bug is 1!

Well, it was a successful Ladybug party!  I've uploaded plenty of photos for those unable to attend.  Here is the cupcake and drink table.  White and red velvet to choose from, and red kool-aid and water in the jugs.  The lighting wasn't great so it's hard to see the banners I made, but that was hanging above it.

Here is pin-the-dot-on-the-ladybug.  I think Alivia and Quinn managed to play before they left.

Here's one of the tables - favors included ladybug water bottles and ladybug beach balls!  Also we had to throw in some party hats for good measure.

Had to get a closeup of the red gerber daisies!  They went so well with the theme.

This photo was taken later on (again, I might have to get a REAL camera seeing how lousy these came out) but I did red Twizzlers, black and white M&M's, and red Swedish fish in tall glass canisters.

Here is the birthday girl in her new dress, reading her new book, on her new table!  She LOVES the chairs and is adorable sitting there just smiling away at us.  She and the girls were just gabbing here.

Elaine dons a party hat and chats with Quinn and Alivia.

Here is a couch shot of all the kiddos in attendence.  Left to right we have Elise, JD, Burke, Elaine, Quinn and Alivia!  It was nothing short of a miracle just getting them to sit still long enough for this picture.

One more closeup of these three - SO adorable!

The moment has arrived - for CAKE!!  Elaine has already ripped off her special bib that says she's 1!

Here is her "1" candle, which Eric helped her blow out.

Her first reaction was not necessarily one of extreme pleasure.  She tasted it out of politeness for the baker, using her dainty food eating mannerisms. 

I think she likes green peas more than cupcakes.  YAY!  I was able to Skype in my parents for this portion of the party, since they were unable to come at the last minute due to a death in our family.

Here is Eric at the tail end of the gift opening!  So many wonderful gifts from our friends and family!  We are so blessed.

Here she is having a ball playing with her newest toy from Aunt Amy. 

What a party!  Of course we had to dress theme too!  It was a really fun way to celebrate her turning one year old.  She will get to see her cousins and open a couple more gifts in Peoria next weekend, as we are heading back to mourn our family's loss.