Spring time!

Virginia is famous for its spring! Everything is blooming and so are everyone's allergies. If you've never had allergies before, you'll develop them once you come here. But I think the sniffles are worth it to daily witness God's color pallet of pastels on every tree and bush :) My mom is coming to visit next weekend and hopefully we'll go see the cherry blossoms and have some fun pictures to share! Until then, here a couple from our neighborhood from my phone.,.

12 month stats

Last week we went in for Elliot's dr well checkup. Since she had gone in twice this month for being sick, I already had a good idea that she was no longer our long and lean girl.

Elliot weighs 23 lbs (85%) 29 1/2 in long (70%) and i don't remember her head cir. she is already growing out of some of her 12 month clothes!

Elliot is still a confident crawler. She prefers to crawl instead work on walking, however she does cruise around the furniture and walk with some push toys.

Elliot has found her love of music again. She claps, bops up and down, or taps her foot when a song come on that she likes.

Elliot hates teething. Apparently she's been having a hard time at daycare this week because her devil molars are coming in. Poor baby!

Elliot is learning to use a spoon and she is very excited about it! She wants to do everything herself but sometimes she gets frustrated and will had you the spoon with a "please mommy help me" look.

Elliot likes to use the corresponding pieces for toys. For example, the toy hammer is only used with the bopping nails. However she does like to put our things in some interesting places. I found a hairspray bottle top and Chapstick in a wicker basket in our closet.

My favorite thing about this age is that Elliot is becoming more of a daddy's girl. Normally daddy is for silly times and mommy is for everything else in Elliot's eyes. Now she reaches for Tim even when she's sad! This is a HUGE relief and help for me!

Here are some random pictures of our big girl

From my phone

I finally installed the blogger app to my phone! So now I can post all the pictures I take :)

Today for lunch Elliot had her first pb&j sandwich! Although she didn't eat it all I would count it as a success and add it to the menu. So far there isn't too much this girl turns down!

Elliot's 1st Birthday

Our sweet baby girl turned one on February 24th! I took the day off and Tim worked from home so we could celebrate and be together. All day I was recounting what we were doing last year... "At this time we were watching Saved By the Bell during contraction that were 8 minutes apart." "At this time my water broke and we headed to the hospital." And so it went on all day long (poor Tim). I was quite proud of my self only crying twice though as I thought about my baby becoming a toddler! Throughout the day we also Skyped with my family and Tim's while Elliot opened their presents and chatted away.

We celebrate her birthday with 20 friends and family at our house that Sunday. Tim and I were very prepared and stayed up late Saturday night making this the best homemade birthday party. We had made almost all the food and decorations, and set everything up that night for her pink and green themed party. Our favorite piece were the made-from-scratch vanilla cupcake with marshmallow flowers on top. Tim baked and I decorated! They were a big hit. We made Elliot an applesauce cake with very little sugar as to not induce a sugar high and crash. Our favors were little bottles of champagne for the adults and bubbles for the kids :) Below is one of the many decorated tables around the house.
Elliot did really well at her party! It was at noon, after her 2 hour morning nap, so she was wide awake to party. As people started to arrive she was excited and confused. She loved seeing everyone but always made sure either Mom or Dad were close by. Her favorite part was entertaining the kids in her room.

After lunch, it was time for the big cake ceremony! Elliot loved the Cool-Whip frosting, but wasn't too sure about the cake. She didn't dive into it like I expected, she mostly scrapped the icing off the top. But I can't blame her, that was the best part :)

Then we opened all her presents! Our guests were all very generous and gave Elliot adorable outfits and fun toys. She was a little overwhelmed when it came down to opening them up. Although she normally loves the spotlight, today she was a little shy. However she wasn't shy when I took her Catch Me Kitty to see if it needed batteries! Elliot turned bright red a screamed at the top of her lungs. Right on cue, Elliot became a toddler!
After everyone left, Tim and I relaxed with a glass of wine while Elliot took inventory. We had a wonderful time and I hope all of our guests did too :)

12 month stats coming soon