Scenes from January

Here's a random snapshot of what January looked like for us...

 Everything is always more exciting in the teepee...

Eleanor putting her table to good use.  If you don't own this IKEA kids table then you should go out and buy it now.  I love that I can leave crayons on it and Eleanor will wander to it all day and start coloring.

Playing dress up.  She found the bow drawer and put on the necklace and headband all by herself. 

Eleanor was playing with the baby bassinet for a while and then came to me in another room and said, "Mommy...picture of me!"  She pulled my finger into the baby's room and posed like so...

My heart melted so I took several more.  She made sure the baby got her own picture...

Another Eleanor request: she gathered these photos and drawings, asked me to put tape on them and then put them on the wall herself.

Watching the "Cougies" play basketball

This girl loves to brush her teeth.  And baby is never far away.

Planning things for the baby's room with an 8 month pregnant belly.

 Banner making for the baby's gallery wall.

Friday afternoon jump session in the backyard.  This has been the month of jumping.  Ever since we introduced the song "3 Little Monkeys Jumping in the Bed" song all she wants to do is jump.

Typical morning cuddle session: us trying to snuggle Eleanor while she grabs our phones and asks to see "pictures of Eleanor." 

Look what I found when I was putting together the baby's room gallery wall!  Aaron as a little toddler.  Is Eleanor an exact replica of her daddy or what?!

 We found a reading chair! I was craving some alone time before the baby came so Aaron and Eleanor stayed at home and I went to some Clovis antique shops.  I came home with a picture of this chair and Aaron was sold.  We went back to get it that afternoon and now it lives in our bedroom. 

Other pictures from my antique shopping afternoon...

  I think these old theater chairs are pretty awesome but I couldn't convince Aaron, even after showing him pictures like this and this. 

And I really liked this chest of drawers but ended up passing.  I later came across this listing for the same dresser but at a much higher price.  I was super tempted to go back for it but ultimately decided to still pass for now.  

And here is where I give an ode to the world's greatest friend.  

Jessica came over on a random Thursday night, brought homemade swig cookies and the fixings for a shirley temple drink. She then plopped down to give me a pedicure.  And this was no ordinary pedicure...she massaged my pregnant feet for a good 20 minutes.  You know how when you get a really good massage and you still feel like your being massaged even after they stop?  Ya, it was that good.  Oh and we watched the live action Cinderella through it all.  This girl is magical.

Our "little mommy" hard at work.  This is a very common scene to find at any given moment in our house.  Notice the three blankets laid out for baby to lay on, the array of wipes (afterall, one wipe is only good for one swipe and baby needs at least twenty swipes ;)), the newborn diapers (how'd she find those?), the 2 baby bottles AND the baby book.  This girl takes her mothering seriously.

And more bassinet playing.  I'm sure I will regret ever letting Eleanor play in the bassinet once that baby boy comes and actually needs it.  I just don't have the heart right now to take it away from her though.

A week straight of rain and our backyard looked like this.  Yikes!  We have drainage projects in our future...

 Impromptu family photo.

We started giving Eleanor a pillow to sleep with when she turned 2 and now she is the most peaceful sleeper.  She used to thrash around and go in the craziest positions, but now we find her in the same exact spot we left her in. 

 Snuggling with the bible, ha.

Strollering like it's a full time job.

I love finding her playing by herself.  And I love her crazy mess of curls.

We've been painting a lot these days (thanks for the watercolors MiMi!) and we have stacks and stacks of artwork now.  This scene makes my heart happy.

Starting to put the hospital bag together.  I wrote a letter to myself right after having Eleanor with a list of everything I should bring to the hospital for baby #2.  It was fun to find the letter and put the advice to use. 

Living room planning.  We are thinking of getting a love seat so I put our two chairs together and draped a blanket over them to see how I liked it.  Eleanor made herself right at home on the "love seat" while I pulled out some painters tape to start planning out where we'd hang some art.  Big, blank walls are tough.  Also of note...we got a new couch and love it!

 And here's a close up of that cutie...

A magical moment where we got all seven kiddos to sit quietly in a row for a movie.  We were very impressed with ourselves.

 Eleanor displaying her new beloved Daniel Tiger puppets.  My sister-in-law Chelsea made these as a birthday gift for Eleanor and they could not be more perfect.  Look at that detail!

Grandma came to visit for the baby shower!  Eleanor snapped this photo of her.  We all love it when Grandma comes to town.