iphone updates

Well I've successfully gotten way behind in blogging. I've been working on a photobook for Eleanor's 1st year and my blog was so helpful for pulling photos and documenting things, however I got to the point where I needed to do another iphone dump to get photos onto my computer and thought I should add a blog post of some of the photos I had. Sometimes it is hard to keep up the blogging, but I always later appreciate having things documented!

This was back before Christmas, but I was having a hard day. I honestly now can't even remember what was so bad about the day, but I had mutual that night and when I came home I walked in and saw this lovely surprise on our kitchen counter. A beautiful rose and a thoughtful thank-you card that had a poem inside, half written by Sam and the other half written by Eleanor (or by Sam from Eleanor's perspective) thanking me for things that I do. It was the sweetest thing and definitely lifted my spirits. I sure married well.

 The day we were going down to Utah on our way home to Arizona for Christmas I was trying to get everything loaded in the car while Eleanor ate her lunch. I knew she was ready for a nap, but I was trying to time it all perfectly so she would sleep on the drive down to Utah. As I was running between the house and garage I checked on Elle and saw this....

 

Her head was bobbing all around and I couldn't stop laughing. Poor little sweet baby. She had woken up extra early that day and was wiped out. She had never fallen asleep in her high chair like this. Luckily, she was so out of it she stayed asleep while I transferred her to her carseat and slept for most of the drive to Utah!

Once Eleanor started walking everywhere I had to get her a new pair of shoes because most of all the other pairs she had wouldn't stay on her feet that well as she walked. I ordered these adorable Sperry's and when I opened the box Eleanor wanted them on her feet right away. One of her clearest and most frequently used words is "shoes". It's most often accompanied with her bringing me a pair so I will put them on her. She'll also bring me a pair of my own shoes and expect me to put them on.

 One day I was folding laundry and Elle brought me the pink booties and signed "please" so I would put them on her. I did and a few minutes later she brought me the black pair and wanted the same thing. I told her I couldn't put them on because she was already wearing a pair, so she sat down and took care of it all herself...

Eleanor is officially attending nursery! When she was almost 17 months the nursery leader saw her out in the hall way and told us to bring her in and let her stay without us. I was so nervous about it but Eleanor did great and loved it! She ran right in to the toys and never looked back. She is now attached to one of her leader's (our bishop's wife) and loves spending time with her. Just last night we were at an activity and Elle was in her leader's arms. When I took her back so we could leave Elle was upset and was reaching back to get out of my arms! I tried to get pictures once we were home to document her first nursery day, but she was just over due for her nap and not happy about taking pictures.

 I spent a few days in Utah because I had to take an interpreting test. My friend, Abbie, was so kind and watched Eleanor for me while I took the test. Her son, Crew, is only a few hours older than Elle. If you can't tell by this photo Abbie got of the two, they sure enjoyed their time together... (The closed eyes crack me up every time I look at this)

 After getting ready for a day, I often realize that my and Eleanor's outfits coordinate. This day after getting us ready to head out the door I realized we were pretty much twins. Of course I had to document it!

 

We kind-of sorta celebrated Valentine's day. Sam and I were in the middle of our healthy eating/weight loss challenge (a competition with some of his family) so we didn't really go out or do anything special. We're still holding out for a date night next time we're in Utah. However, I made sure Elle was dressed accordingly for the day and she got a little pack of bracelets. She was so pleased with the little package when I gave it to her, it was so cute.

Our Young Women did a Valentine-themed fundraiser for Girl's camp. We sold "Sweetheart Gift Baskets" as well as "Valentine Pretzel Packs". This was a new fundraiser so we thought it would be a little bit of a test run and we were hoping to sell a few of each item. Well, we finished with a total of 48 basket orders and over 130 pretzel orders! I couldn't believe the great response we got from all of our ward members. I even got requests for more after everything was delivered and I've been asked if we'll be doing it again next year. Considering we were able to do this without a Target or Costco nearby, I consider it a success ;) (and the real part of success - we raised more than enough for camp) Here are what the baskets looked like...

 

And if you've ever wondered what 900 chocolate-dipped pretzels looked like, here ya go...

 

Well, today was day light savings and although I don't feel tired, I need to get to bed because I have to interpret early in the morning! I'll post about that soon!