the littlest fan

May I take a moment to introduce you to the littlest fan of the Tour de France:

she looks like she has ricky bobby hands here, hahaha

My friend Kay showed me several cool sites for buying TDF onesies. I'm not sure if its because I'm so dang cheap or because Elliot is growing so fast (or combination of the two) but I just wasn't willing to part with the cash even though they were so dang cute! Check them out here and here.

Plus, I wanted her to be able to wear the onesie now, while the Tour is actually going on. So, I dug through my crafting trunk and this is what I came up with! I found a hand-me-down plain onesie in Elliot's drawer. I used some of my iron-on backing and scrap fabrics (as close to Garmin-Cervelo as I could--she's a big fan of Tyler and Thor) and voila! A free and immediately usable onesie. Hooray for instant, and cheap, gratification!

Here's a close up:

putting baby to work

A couple of folks have asked what Elliot does while she's with me at work. Well, she does what every three month old does: listens to NPR, talks with her friends on her cell phone, browses her favorite blogs, plays on pinterest, wastes vast amounts of time on etsy...you know, the typical stuff.

When she's not napping, Elliot loves playing here:

We're borrowing this seat from Elliot's friend Austin. He's 1 year old and too big for it now. Boy are we lucky to have it at the office! We have a similar one at home and its so nice to not have to lug it back and forth every day. She loves to shake and rock the seat. She'll coo and goo (and sometimes yell) at the animals. Here are a few photos of her:

my favorite is that last picture of elliot.
this girl has LOTS of personality

Elliot also loves to help me type emails, invoices, contracts and insurance updates. She's quite the cute assistant!

I know we are so blessed to be able to bring Elliot to work; I am so thankful to work for such a great boss!

shhhhhh elliot's sleeping!

So, this is life with a baby: making a milkshake in your bathroom

yep.

that's josh.

sitting on the toilet.

making a milkshake.

Elliot has been a little sensitive (to say the least!) in her night-time sleeping. So, when baby girl is down for the night you better believe we're tip-toeing around the house. Which also means blenders must be used as far away from her room as possible....and that means they're used in our bathroom.

Wow, we're making dessert in the bathroom---is that the ultimate in parental desperation or what?!

**ps, the milkshake pictures here is peanut butter and chocolate. so delish, even if it was made in the bathroom!

elliot weekly: week 14

14 weeks and looking large!

What we were up to this past week:

Lake time! We visited our friends Lauren and Matt (and baby Merrin--Elliot's bff) up at Lake Lure on Saturday. I forgot my camera and have no pictures :( I'll have to steal some of their's to share later. We also hung out with our friends LeeLee and Joe on Sunday at their house on Lake Badin. I did remember to take my camera....but had a blast on the lake and didn't really take too many pictures!

isn't he such a natural?!
leelee and joe are having their first baby this december
yay for more friends for elliot!

elliot looooved the lake.
can't you tell?!

Baby Pool Time: We had a baby pool for Elliot and thought it was about time we tested it out. Its just a $5 blow up plastic pool, but we weren't really going to invest that much since we have a pool (and baby pool) in our neighborhood. We would have just taken her up to the pool, but it doesn't have any shade. We set up Elliot's pool under our umbrella on the upper deck:

Those were our big adventures for the week (other than two up-the-back-dirty-diapers at work--------barf!) Here are a few funny faces from Elliot from this past week. Enjoy!

watching/riding/babysitting

When you become a parent you enter a whole new world of multi-tasking.
-Blair Jones

Folks, you can quote me on that. I know, I know...my intellectual depth and life reflections are at times just so overwhelming. What can I say, I love Mensa.

Working out/staying fit is very important to me. Watching the Tour de France is very important to me. Watching my baby is very important to me. And I've figured out a way to do all three:

The little red thing in the back that's holding up the rear tire of my road bike, subsequently turning it into a stationery bike, is called a trainer. Truth be told, we actually bought the trainer when Josh was rehabbing his knee from his ACL surgery.

Elliot's most recent schedule has her napping from 5-6pm, which is normally when I've taken her for a run in the jogging stroller. She's starting to turn the corner with some of her sleep training (oh goodness, a post for another day!) and Josh and I are really trying to give her some good solid naptime during the day. She naps great while I'm at work, and she can cat-nap in the jogger---but its just not good sleep.

Enter: The Trainer. The Trainer gets two capital letters because he is that intense. There is no drafting and no downhills with a trainer. He's essentially the guy in the pace car telling me "no, no, no---keep up the pace, increase your cadence, you're getting dropped from the peloton!" It may be the most intense 50 minute workout I've had in a year (other than the bodypump class I went to with Sunday---crap that class was insane!)

The room I'm cycling in is our bonus room over our garage. Its just down the hall from Elliot's room, which makes it perfect for spinning-while-watching-the-tour-and-keeping-an-eye-out-for-my-baby. Ahhh, the art of the multi-tasking parent. Any of y'all out there with kids that have any multi-tasking/juggling stories to share??

*do you see that bag of trash in the hallway? just my spring-but-actually-now-summer cleaning.
*do you see that box in the hallway? it is headed toward the trashbag. it might take that box four days to get down the hall and into the trashbag. pacing, its all about pacing folks.

tour de france 2011

Ahhh, its (one of) my favorite time of the year: The Tour is on! Yep, its all cycling talk around Casa de Jones these days. We'll read and watch just about anything related to the tour, and boy is there a lot!

Here's a quick breakdown of a few topics Josh and I have been discussing:

Andy Schleck:

I love some Andy Schleck! He, and his brother Frank (also cute, I mean fabulous rider), left SaxoBank to form their own new team: Leopard Trek. He previously rode for team SaxoBank; the only team Andy had even ridden professionally for. So jumping to Leopard Trek was a huge risk...but I think its going to pay off for both the Schleck brothers. Last year, among other awards, Andy won Best Young Rider and finished 2nd overall in the Tour de France. I think this could really be his year. I can't wait to see Andy on top of the podium in Paris!

Tyler Farrar:

Tyler has been with Garmin Cervelo (previously Garmin Chipotle) since 2005. He's had several stage wins in some of the big tours, but never at the TDF--until yesterday! That's right, Farrar, my favorite sprinter, beat Mark Cavendish to the line for a win on Stage 3. I'm sure it had to do with more than just his fabulosity (like an incredible lead out from Thor) but it made me so happy. And, I definitely shed a tear when he crossed the line holding up a big "W" for his best friend Wouter Weylandt of team Leopard Trek(that died at the Giro d'Italia this past May.) I can't wait to see what else Tyler has in store for us!

elliot weekly: week 13

What we've been up to this week:

Bubbles, Bubbles: Elliot has been quite the drooling little lady lately. She's been making tons of bubbles and dribbling down every outfit. We used to have to change her outfits due to spit-up, now we have to change them because she's soaking them through!

Taking A Stand: Elliot loves testing out her legs. She likes to be held upright, putting weight on her little legs. She's got some strong little quads! Josh and I can't wait until she's old enough to test out a jumper/exersaucer, it should be quite entertaining!

Head Held High: Elliot is getting better and better at holding up her head. When she's full of energy (just after waking up and just after eating) she can hold her head up high. It usually only lasts a few minutes, but she looks so cute craning her little neck. She stretches out her neck, raises her eyebrows and wrinkles her forehead....it leaves her looking very curious (and a bit like a wrinkled old lady!)

So Much To Say: Elliot has been talking/cooing more and more! She gets so animated, wiggling her eyebrows and undulating her voice. It makes me laugh and I usually end up distracting her by smiling too much. If I can keep a straight face she will usually "talk" a bit more.

Growing Like A Weed: Well, we've had to retire some of Elliot's clothes. She was so little when we brought her home from the hospital (5 pounds 10 ounces) that we actually had to go out and buy some newborn clothes. I finally had to take those newborn outfits out of her armoir and pack them away. It was so sad! I know she's still our little baby, but she seems like she's getting bigger by the minute.

cuddle time with con queso
she's loving to snuggle lately


you talking to me?!
i love some of the stares that she gives me
i was actually trying pretty hard to get her to smile for this picture...
clearly, she wasn't interested!