Eleanor's New Trick

So this morning we were up early...as usual. M went off to work...and Eleanor and I were busy getting ready for breakfast. I just happened to look back at the phone charger on the wall and noticed that it was lit up like someone was on the phone. So I knew who had the phone and I went looking for her. Sure enough...she had turned it on and punched in a bunch of random numbers. No biggie. I turned it off and went about my work.

Next thing I know...the phone starts ringing...and I figured it was probably my sister calling to chat. I looked at the caller i.d. and it had a name I didn't recognize...and a number I had no idea where from. I answered a little hesitantly...like "who's calling me"...and the man on the other end said in a somewhat tired voice, "uh yeh...you just called here.."...and I was like..."uhhhh....OH...I'm sorry...my daughter was playing with the phone...ooops...sorry!!"...Poor guy! I looked up the area code...and yup...Eleanor was calling Chicago...at 7:15 Eastern Standard Time...so it was 6:15am in Chicago!! Oooops...won't be letting her play with the phone again anytime soon!! :)

A News Lens for Mommy

M gets a big kiss for surprising me with a new camera lens. He's a stinker for being super sneaky about it too!! I'm.In.Love...with this lens. Here's a sampling of a shot I got with it tonight.

I'll be getting some use out of this puppy next week. I'm heading down to NC to my sister's for a photo shoot with her kiddos...and Eleanor of course. Can't wait to share some of those on here when we get back.

Funny Girl

This girl's got a great sense of humor! She laughs at just about anything we do. All we have to do this week is look at her and say her new favorite word..."hot"...and she's in stitches! She uses this word excessively...like....instead of saying "No...I don't want to eat this"....she now says "Hot"...and puts her hand over it as if to say..."No Mommy...it's Hot...so I can't eat it". This kid is too smart! Not that she has the ability to put together the above sentence...but I get it...she's sneaky :)

We are so ready for our Disney trip...I can't stand it anymore. I'm not usually a type A person...but I'm so excited for this trip that I have planned out exactly what I'm going to wear each day. Part of this is so I don't over pack...seriously...do I really need all that stuff? And since we're driving down instead of flying...I'd like to actually have some leg room for the 14 plus hours it's going to take. Ugh....14 hours in the car. With a toddler. Better start planning lots of activities for her to do with Grammie!!

Here's a pic I snapped of her today. I went in to get her after her nap...and she's always a ham after she's had a good nap. She didn't disappoint today!! :)

Kinder Farm Park

Eleanor is seriously in love with this park! We've been quite a few times this summer...and if it ever cools off a little here...we'll be going again. I think her favorite part is the fact she can run around by herself. I don't make her hold my hand...and she can run all over. What kid wouldn't love that?

They have a great playground area for different ages/stages. Eleanor can go down the slide all by herself now..and loves that. They have goats, chickens, cows, pigs and a rooster. She LOVES it all!

This is a quick shot I got of her after she went down the slide. She's ready to go again!!

16 Months Old...

Ok...I'm a slacker..I admit it. This summer is flying by and I'm MIA in my blogging. I apologize...I feel like we've had something going on constantly...and never enough energy to blog. I'm going to try better...I promise :)

She's a growing...and a growing. I am astounded at how much she understands me...and can follow simple tasks successfully. She learned how to put the keys in the door this week...scary...pretty soon she'll be wanting to drive the car...but if she's anything like me...she'll be terrified...and refuse to learn how to drive...right Grammie C? ;)

M & I look at her a lot..especially over the weekends, and can't believe how big she's getting. We saw a tiny baby at church today...and I was all like..."No way Eleanor was EVER...THAT little!"....but sadly...I look back and yes...she was little...and she used to just lay there. I thought I was exhausted then....but now I'm utterly pooped at the end of every day from chasing her around...and making sure she's not getting into anything.

She lights up every time she sees her Daddy...and shakes her head no almost every time we ask her for a kiss or a hug. She's ornery...we can see it already...but we love her so much...and we don't know what we'd do without her in our lives! Happy 16 month birthday my baby girl!

Little Fish!

So with us being down in NC over the holiday...we got lots of pool time...and people...I gave birth to a FISH! She loves the water...and is scooting herself off the side to jump into the water. Granted...this was not an easy step for Mommy to take...so Aunt Jenni had to do some encouraging...and boy does she like it! She goes under water and comes up ready to give a high five. She even puts her face in the water on her own if you ask her if she wants to swim...it's so cute!

4th of July Fun!

We're back home after a GREAT visit with my family down in NC. We were there for 4 days...plenty of sunshine and laughs! We were at the pool most days...and drove down to Topsail Beach for the 4th. Got some great pictures of my nephew and nieces...and of course...some great ones of my cutie pie! Here's my favorite one from the weekend.