elliot weekly: week 9

sorry if brief baby nudity offends you
it was 309823094 degrees in our house
clearly, elliot does not mind :)

As I mentioned last week, Elliot made her first trip to the beach! It was a week full of firsts for Elliot and here's what she's been up to:

Elliot is getting better and better at finding her thumb:

these pictures were actually taken on two different days
she just loves her play yard and that outfit, what can i say?

Elliot's first "sorority-smush" photo:

**photo removed due to post-ocean-exploring-nastiness**

lauren (older sister, the doctor) and i can make fun of the sorority smush
because we were both tri-deltas at clemson
i think i have 12039484019 pictures like this from college
this is also proof that, contrary to public belief, elliot does not smile in every picture

Elliot's first trip to the beach:

look how happy that beach baby is
and elliot is loving it too
hardy-har-har
elliot did like the beach, she said it was like a live version of her sound machine from home

she was totally digging the sunglasses
thanks amy brown!

Elliot's first time to play in the ocean:

sadly, elliot did not love the water
or maybe she didn't like trying to stand up
or maybe she didn't like that everyone thought she was a boy in this rash guard shirt

Elliot's first post-day-at-the-beach-nap-fest:

turns out spending half the day at the beach was a bit much for baby girl
and baby mama
elliot was looking pretty puny and just wasn't herself
we spent a lot of the day resting, cuddling and sleeping
i'm glad to say that elliot quickly bounced back and was ready for a night of partying (also known as sleeping and eating)

Elliot's first trip to the Charleston Farmers Market:

can you tell how happy baby is for local arts, crafts and produce?!

lauren and i caught up with her friend beth
this is beth's son who coached me on how to best shield elliot from the sun
he also had a full conversation with her about the beach and farmer's market
kids are just too cute some times!

speaking of cute kids!
i hope you have a great weekend--i look forward to sharing some more pictures from our first beach trip soon

back to the grind

Today I'm heading back to work. Maternity leave is over and it is back to the real world. Oh, the joy of it all.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to take Elliot with me to work. I'm so glad that she'll be there with me, although I haven't totally figured out how its going to work. My hours have been reduced for the month of June. I think its good on one hand (more time at home with Elliot) but it'll also be tough to try and get everything done in a shorter ammount of time (and throwing in getting Elliot adjusted to life at the office!)

I am going to put it out there, mommy-blog world be warned, that I'm actually glad to be a working mom. I'm fortunate to have a steady, flexible, non-stressful job that pays well and I'm excited that Elliot gets to see me doing something that I can do well (outside of picking out her outfits and changing her diapers). I don't think that it makes me a bad mom or a good mom....it just makes me Elliot's mom. And her mom works. Her mom also enjoys pop music, running and can make a mean salad.

Sadly, a lot of America (women specifically) seems really opinionated on the whole "working mom" issue. Personally, I'd rather focus on more important and/or fun issues....like when is Ashley (on the Bachelorette) going to wise up that Bentley is a giant turd? and when am I allowed to paint Elliot's fingernails? and what race should I sign up for next? and who's coming to the White Water Center to listen to music with me?

So, don't judge me for being a working mom. I'd much rather you judge me for my high-school-girl taste in music or my rockin' zumba moves or the fact that I haven't washed my hair in three days (sidebar: I have actually showered, I've just been dry-shampooing it like a rockstar!)

Peace out friends, mama has got to get to work!

elliot weekly: week 8

elliot is two months old today!
what?!?!
*no picture with con queso :( we went on vacation and he wasn't invited

what we've been up to this week:

elliot is loving her play yard! she's getting more into the mobile parts and swinging her arms around. she's hit the rattle and pig several times, but i'm not totally sure that she know what she's doing. she stares and smiles at the animals; that's got to be a good sign, right?

she's still at champ at riding in her carseat! i've been walking with elliot around town since she was about three weeks old. she loves her walks (or rather, doesn't scream her head off when we go for a walk) and i think that's part of the reason why she does so well in the car. either we picked a comfy carseat or we've just got a chill baby. either way, she's a traveling champ!

check out that smile! she's getting much more social with her smiles.
she'll smile at just about anything and anyone!

she's got some serious monkey toes! elliot's pinky toes stick out and its almost like she's trying to grab stuff with them. apparently, its a fairly common reflex for babies this age. she'll quickly outgrow it, so we're just enjoying it (and laughing about it) while we can :)

she's had her first trip to the beach! we've made our first family trip to the beach! i can't wait to tell y'all some of our adventures, but until next week here's a cute picture of our babe:

relaxing at the beach
this is the life!

whoopie pies

My stepmom brought these up the other day and they are delish! Seriously, don't read any farther unless you are prepared (both for utter delight and added inches to your waistline!)

Fortunately, they're really quick and easy to make; I made these while Elliot was taking a nap this morning. There are tons of different recipes out there, but this one is great:

Whoopie Pies

for cookie:

Pillsbury family size Chocolate Fudge Brownie mix

follow package directions using 3 eggs, plus add 1 1/2 C flour & 2 tsp baking soda

drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on parchment paper spaced 2-3 inches apart

bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees; let cool on wire rack

filling:

2 C marshmallow cream

2 C confectioners sugar

1 stick softened butter

2 tsp vanilla

4 oz cream cheese

mix all ingredients together and beat until fluffy

spread generous amounts of filling between two chocolate cookies

wrap individually & refrigerate

So go make some whoopie, pies that is ;)

elliot weekly: week 7

our happy baby girl!

Elliot was a little travel superstar this week! We went to Charlotte for the day on Tuesday to play with my friend Chelsea. Elliot enjoyed hanging out at Dean and Deluca and shopping at Southpark and Trader Joe's. She's an expert in the car now:

We went back to Charlotte on Friday to hang out with our friend Amy and her daughter Charis. We grabbed lunch (at Sir Ed's, YUM!!) and talked, and talked, and talked.....and had so much fun that we forgot to take any pictures :(

We also watched our friend Ashley play soccer. She plays for the Charlotte Eagles (uhm yeah, she's amazing!) It was Elliot's first soccer game and she loved it. She cheered for Ashley, yelled at the referees and ate pizza (just kidding.)

learning the basics from josh and then yelling at the ref's poor call
(we still think it should have been a goal!)

amazed at Ashley's front-flip-throw-in (or whatever you call it!)

our little soccer fan

sorry it took so long to get this post up! who knew parenting took so much time?!?!

elliot loves to snuggle with con queso :)

making us look good

Just got my photos delivered from Lindsey Lee Photography. They are a-maz-ing. Seriously. We had booked a session just for Elliot, but Josh and I couldn't resist jumping in for a few shots. This family loves a picture opportunity! Lindsey was able to put us at ease, make us laugh, capture our individual personalities and make us all three look pretty dang good.

Now that I'm done crying (because they are so very good!) I needed to share a few with you. We haven't decided which one we're going to use for her birth announcement (ouch, I really need to plan that!) so I'm only going to share a few photos with you. I'll be sure to put up more later; trust me, you'll love them!

i LOVE this one.
my two favorite people!

elliot is getting so big, i'm glad we got pictures now!


this quilt was made by josh's great grandmother
elliot looks too cute in it, right?!


having your picture taken can be tough.

Can't wait to share more pictures with you soon! Go and book your session with Lindsey now!

that sounds familiar...i think

I am currently watching Inside Man. According to Netflix (and Josh) this is the 3rd time I've watched this movie. And I have nearly no recollection of it. As in, the premise of the movie seems vaguely familiar, kind of like trying to remember a dream I maybe had last week. This, unfortunately, is not just limited to movies. I'm reading the Harry Potter series (for the fourth time) and am constantly wondering what is going to happen next.

In the bright side, I'm just as intrigued and amused as the first time I read the book, watched the movie or heard the story. So, if you have a particular joke/story to tell or need to watch a movie for the 15th time call me--I'll be a great audience for you :)