elliot weekly: week 30

loving the outdoors at 30 weeks

What we've been up to:

Bath Time: Elliot is still loving her baths.  She's getting better at sitting up (in general) and it's fun to watch her sit up in the tub.  She doesn't quite get the whole sitting-up-while-not-falling-face-first-thing and still likes to lay down on her bath sling.

Sleeping Champ: Elliot is still sleeping through the night.  We are so thankful to have solid sleep in our lives!  Elliot usually goes down around 7:30pm and it leaves lots of time for me and Josh to spend time together.

Backpack Baby: Josh and I did a little hike at South Mountain and some yard work this week.  Elliot was both great help and great company.  We were given this baby pack by Elizabeth and John and we love it!  We hang a few toys on there and Elliot is set.  She loves the outdoors and this pack is the perfect combination of baby-containment/baby-entertainment center :)

Elliot directing te mulch placement

Josh and Elliot at South Mountain

elliot weekly: week 29

wearing socks at week 29....and kicking them off right away!

what we've been up to this week:

Sleeping Beauty: Elliot has been sleeping great this week.  We've even had a few nights where she slept until 7am!  We know that teething is probably right around the corner, so we are soaking up these good nights while we can.

Banquet:  We had our fundraising banquet for Young Life on Tuesday.  Elliot was a great gift-bag stuffer.  Consider yourself blessed if you got a little baby slobber on your baggie :)  Did you miss the banquet?  Check out a video clip here.

Just Me and Bottles:  Elliot is still nursing exclusively.  Breastfeeding has been such a gift and I'm glad that she's taken so well to it.  It was a huge prayer of mine during my pregnancy and I'm so thankful for the time with her.  Our pediatrician has advised us to start moving her towards baby food at 8 months.  The plan is to start her with rice cereal at 8 months and then transition to baby food after that.  It makes me kind of sad because I really enjoy the time with her and let's be honest here: its free!  Momma loves a deal y'all.

craft it: homemade trellis

I got Josh to craft with me! The key to getting the hubs involved: outdoor crafting. We bought and planted some Carolina Jasmine earlier this year. We used a trellis that we already owned, but knew that it wouldn't be large enough in the end. The Jasmine we bought is trailing; and trailing it was....it was starting to get a bit out of control. 

Here's a shot of the front of out house.

We planted the Jasmine in between the garage windows.

 See how sad it looks on the too-small-trellis?

The plan was to drill into the mortar and created a wire trellis running in-between the windows.  Josh picked up some garden wire at our local hardware store and that was the only cost for this project (about $5.) 

 Here's Josh using a masonry bit to drill into the mortar.  This is manly crafting for sure.

We ran the wire in a giant "X" pattern and then wove the Jasmine through.

Here are a few "after" shots:

And here are some shots at dusk:

Doesn't it look so much better?!

sitting up

I think we'd all be happy if we applauded each other the way we do babies.  Babies do hardly anything and we're cheering them on as if they've finished a marathon in record time.  Josh and I are totally  those parents.  We cheer when Elliot finishes a bottle, sleeps through the night or grins at us.  How different would the world be if you got a high-five or pat on the back for brushing your teeth, going to work or just going to bed?  I think we'd all walk around standing a little taller, feeling a bit more proud and secure....because after all, we'd put on clothes all by ourselves.

But until that day, I'll just keep cheering on my baby girl...because look at her learning how to sit up on her own:

Isn't that totally cheer-worthy?!

craft it: banner/mantle makeover

As the chiller weather has been approaching, I've been wearing more jackets and evening donning my slippers (only around the house, don't worry.)  It has made me think about this winter and warm fires and snuggles with the hubs.  Josh did a wonderful job installing this sliding doors on out over-the-fireplace-tv-nook, but the area is still feeling a little naked.  See what I mean?

 I bought several succulents (because I can't keep real plants alive) from Lowes a couple of glass vases from Anthropologie (not exactly cheap, but perfect for the space!)

But I still felt like the space needing something more.  And this is where Chelsea comes in.

My friend Chelsea is the queen of banners.  I try to copy a lot of what she does, and this is no exception.  Thanks Chelsea for still being my friend even though I copy you all.the.time.

Here's what you need for this little banner session:

1) banner paper (i used an old dictionary, because it was free)

2) sharpie

3) scissors

4) tape

5) remote control. i had to catch up on gossip girl.  yes, there is a 16 year old girl hiding inside this 28 year old mom. yikes.

If you have cute handwriting like Chelsea than you can go ahead and free-hand your letter.  I, on the other hand, printed off letters and then traced them using a lamp:

Josh was reading from 1 Corinthians the other day and it got us talking about we want to give thanks more often.  I thought putting it on the banner would put it front and center in the house:

 

I didn't know how to separate the words "give" and "thanks", so I just whipped up a coffee-filter and dictionary-page flower.  I just folded about 12 filters and 9 dictionary page circle cut-outs together and stuck a brad through them.  Easy peasy. 

 

One last look.  

Now doesn't that mantle look fresh?

wedded bliss

Elliot went to her fourth wedding to see our friends Baird and John get married.  We have known Baird for almost 10 years and Josh and I both wept happy tears as we watched her walk down the aisle.  She looked radiant and so very happy.  Here are a few moments from the ceremony and reception:

loved having a little bluegrass band off to the side!

rare thing: photo of just the two of us.    love.him.

young life girls entertaining elliot

cutest ring bearer ever!

happily married.  ready to party!

beautiful reception site!  can you see the barn? amazingness.

loved how they used cotton in their arrangements

how cute are elliot's baby Toms?!  thanks lampley family!

elliot weekly: week 28

so happy at 28 weeks

What we've been up to this week:

Outdoor Lady: Elliot has really been loving her outdoor time this week.  We had a few rainy spells, but other than that we've been spending a lot of time outside at work and home.  I'm fortunate to have a yard at work where we can sneak out for play breaks.  We have to keep an eye out for the rogue chicken or two (I always take a broom outside with me for protection---makes me feel like I'm on Little House on the Prairie).  Elliot loves looking at everything, feeling the breeze, pulling up all the grass around here and promptly trying to eat it.

Raspberry Central: Elliot is all about blowing raspberries these days.  She'll take a huge breath and just blow/dribble away.  Her face turns so red that I feel like she might pass out or something!  I have to say "Breath Elliot!"  The distraction makes her stop; she'll look up at me and laugh---its so sweet.  We caught a clip on our friend's video camera---we hope to share it soon!

Ears: Elliot has found her ears!  She been "playing" with her ears, flicking the cartilage back and forth.  At first I was nervous that she might be pulling on her ears and was worried about an ear infection (rumor has it that I had a ton of those as a baby). But, she is often smiling when she's doing it, so I'm not too worried.  She's also discovered my ears.  I haven't been wearing dangly earring for a while, fearing that she'd pull them out with her incredible baby strength (sidenote: babies are seriously strong, can I get an "Amen!" on that??)  But even on the days were I'm wearing small post earrings Elliot just wants to flick/tug/poke my upper cartilage.  We may have a future ENT doctor on our hands.

Growing Like a Weed: Elliot had a little growth spurt this week.  Over a span of three days she took a full extra feeding, was a little more fussy and slept a little more poorly.  We are entirely too spoiled with our sweet girl, because when we have something as totally normal as a growth spurt I totally freak out like "why is she wanting so much milk?  why did she wake up at 1am? why is she fussy?  is she getting teeth?"

Toothless Wonder:  Elliot is officially 6.5 months old with no teeth in sight.  She keeps her fingers in her mouth a lot these days, but I'm pretty sure she's just playing with her tongue (also a recent discovery!)  I'm not rushing her into teething, but every time she's fussy I think "oh! maybe she's teething??"