Holiday Check In

 I think this is my favorite photo of Eleanor I've ever taken. She was laughing hysterically at me shaking a plastic bag...

 She had her 1st Santa encounter at my parents church Christmas party. She wouldn't sit on Santa's lap, but she ask for 2 of his candy canes. They got all over her shirt- and she loved it.

Our photographer friend Mari took this photo- and probably edited it to make it look better than it was- it was in the tunnel of lights at the Hogle Zoo. I would not recommend the zoo lights. They aren't that cool and it's too cold for that nonsense.

Blast from the Past

I was going through old photos and I hope you'll indulge me in sharing. The memories are so nice!

I took this from a double decker bus when I was in London on Study Abroad in 2011. I think all the flags were up because of Will and Kate's wedding festivities! London is just so historic and cozy. I think the study abroad was one of the highlights of college.

 All the crowds from Will and Kate's wedding. I think this is the road up to Buckingham Palace.

 This is just from this past Halloween- but look at the ballerina's little yawn!! What's crazy to me... look how different Eleanor looks above than below at around 4-5 months- like a different person with a whole new head of hair.

 This was her response after her first taste of solid food- pureed apples.

 From when Deanna and I went to the Paris Opera Ballet! I remember thinking it was so cool and unusual because during intermission, they had this ballroom couple dancing around the lobby all dramatic- like a little performance while you were waiting. I've never seen anything like that before during intermission!

The gardens at the Palace of Versailles. It was too expensive to go inside, so we just walked around instead. I wonder how similar the grounds looked back in King Louis' time. Also- I think I'm going to grow my hair out- because of this photo.

Holiday Check In

We put up our Christmas tree today. Usually I'm more of a wait till after Thanksgiving sort of lady, but, ever since it snowed a little last week, I've really been in the mood! 

I even bought a Karen Carpenter holiday music CD at Target on a whim- and I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT. My favorite is Merry Christmas, Darling with a close second, Christ is Born. 

We do a fake tree. Naturally, I would prefer a real one, but its so much work. Remembering to water it, going and getting it, you know. But I like our fake one with it's crazy yet fabulous colored pre strung lights- in orange, blue, green, red, and pink. I'll just have to get a candle or something for that holiday smell.

Vacation!

In April/May, Brent and I are going on a vacation! We are going to Amsterdam, Germany, and Austria. My parents are kind enough to watch Ella- which I feel guilty about - but I won't after spending hours on an airplane and realizing if I had Eleanor with me how I'd want jump in an Amsterdam canal to escape the madness.

Airplane tickets were an amazing price, so we bit the bullet. We are planning on taking a Sound of Music bike tour of Austria- Brent recently watched the movie and has told me more than once how much he likes it- I'm a little giddy about it. Also- Amsterdam. It seems so laid back and cool. 

And, for your viewing pleasure... here are some photos of baby girl. She'll be 18 months in November. She loves:
-playing in the sink- filling and dumping out cups of water.
-drinking her bath water, and if that wasn't enough, sucks the water out of the bath mat when her bath water has drained out. I have no explanation.
-the adorable Japanese movie, My Neighbor Totoro, which pleases me because I love it too
-still takes a bottle to go to bed
-riding in her bike seat to the park
-brushing her teeth herself
-Veggie straws and fruit snacks
-waving and saying bye-bye. she'll give you a kiss if you're lucky.
-she even stomps when she throws a tantrum- makes me laugh every time

Family Photos

We took Mouritsen family photos a bit ago- here is Brent trying to get Ella to smile for the big family photo. Ha! I'll share a few if you'd like to see.

Above are all the grand kids..

Working. Family. Photos.

As you may know, I started working part time at SimTek Fence- where I worked as a receptionist before I had Eleanor- a couple weeks ago. I'm a shipping coordinator- scheduling and doing shipping paperwork for all the fence that goes in and out.

There are many things I really love about it, and a few things I don't like.
Loving:
1. Being able to see immediate fulfillment after I've worked to do something. As opposed to raising a baby- which takes years.

I say this, though now I think about it, Ella and I were watching Bachelor in Paradise the other day (I know, I know.) and Ashley I. was crying about something on the show, and Ella looked at her on the screen... observing... and then looked at me and pretend cried, her hands covering her eyes like on TV. It was both funny, and frightening.

2. Having my mom babysit Ella. Ella just adores Granny D, I never worry a bit about leaving my baby behind when I leave. That is so nice.

3. Working with adults- and feeling like a working professional again. Its empowering and confidence building.

Not liking:
1. Since I'm new at work, there's a learning curve- and I've been staying late to get up to speed. I don't like it. It makes me feel so guilty when I get home and see baby Ella.

In other news, we took Mouritsen family photos today. It was hard getting Ella to sit still and smile- I mean, it is a tough request- so we'll see how they turn out. But I was able to get 1 or 2 of Ella happy with family- though not sitting still.

Atlanta, GA

I visited my good friend Caroline a few weekends ago in Atlanta- it was an excellent girls trip (sans baby responsibilities!). Caroline knows all the good places to eat in the city because she always has to wine & dine her clients for her job (in corporate furniture sales). It always makes me think of the tv show Mad Men- always taking clients out to eat.

She took me to this place called the Gun Show. It was so packed. It was all hipster fancy food combinations, like corn and smoked blueberry glaze, so obviously I was all over it. The food was seriously so good- the first item on the menu was my favorite, which is crazy because look at what huitlacoche really is- but the restaurant was so loud! Ms. decorator Caroline was saying they had all hard surfaces (no carpet, hard chairs, bare walls) so the sound just bounced all around.

It was a beautiful weekend.

Summer

I filled up a bunch of water balloons the other day for a church activity- and both Ella and I loved it. She liked to chew on them until they popped in her face (?!) and there is something weirdly cool and fun about popping the balloons on the sidewalk.

It was such a hot afternoon the other day and Ella was begging to go outside, which I didn't want to do because I didn't want to sweat. But, we went out, and I made it bearable by bringing us both out Popsicles. Ella was so cute eating hers- I should've taken a picture but my hands were so sticky and I'm lazy.

These days, I still take Ella for a stroller walk in the morning to get her to nap. She doesn't just go to sleep in the crib for naps, and again, I'm kind of a lazy parent. I rather like the stroller situation really, a walk is nice for me. But now that its getting hotter... we'll see how it goes.

The Mouritsens are going on the annual Park City trip this upcoming Sunday-Wednesday. Its always fun, and I'm looking forward to it. We'll go to the hotel pool, hang out and play cards, and I want to go down the Alpine Slide this year as I've never been.

Teeth & Swimsuits & Steps & Nursing

Ella got two little bottom teeth, oh, about a month ago. And today, I can feel the top two!! but you can't see them yet. ALSO SHE HAS SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT THE LAST TWO NIGHTS AND IT IS A MIRACLE. Before, I was waking up once or twice, feeding her a bottle, changing her diaper if need be, and then putting her back in her crib, which she would do peacefully maybe... 80% of the time. So lets hope by writing about this I'm not jinxing it.

I stopped nursing a while back. Ella was between 9 & 10 months. I wish I would have done it a bit sooner even, 6 or 7 months maybe. She just would snuggle after eating a bottle, and it was so fabulous, she never did that after nursing. PS I still have milk that will come out a little, and I'm a confused why. When will that go away?

Speaking of, a post baby body is hard to put in a swimsuit! I bought this one from Target thinking the ruffle would hide all my insecurities. And it did, when the swimsuit was dry. But the weight of the water on the ruffle caused the cups to roll down. So, I'm trying again with this high waisted bikini bottom and this zippered top. We'll see if it's enough coverage... and if they're the same color...

Also, Eleanor started walking! You can only see one bitty step here, but I've seen as much as 4 steps in a row. Since getting her teeth, she's really taken a liking to pacifiers too. Maybe it's like a substitute for a teether? i don't know.

Review: Juice Cleanse

I've always been so curious about juice cleanses. Do they actually work? Will I really have more energy from drinking a bunch of vegetables? and most importantly- obviously -will I lose weight? 

Here's my thoughts if you'd like to hear:

The Spring Game

Per Brent's request, we went to the Spring BYU Football Scrimmage Friday night. Brent gets to see all the players, see them warming up and testing out their stuff. He even went early to get the players autographs! You know, to give to his 10-year-old nephew (who's obsessed with sports, naturally, as a Mouritsen). I liked it. What I liked was the spring weather and the warm evening light on those peaks!

Also, my parents came to visit last week. We had such a good time.

Please come back!

Soup, Crying Tip, & Ella

photo from thehousewifeintrainingfiles.com

I found this healthy version of Cheddar Broccoli soup, and it is delightful. I was pretty worried about using almond milk at first... but its delicious regardless, and it cuts down the calories quite a bit to use it instead of regular milk.  I also used reduced fat cheddar cheese- still delicious.

On to 9 month old Ella...

Ella: 8 Months

Girlfriend is 8 months old tomorrow, on Jan 19th.

She doesn't have any teeth yet! which is a little unusual from what I read. But, she does:
-sit up real well, only sometimes falling over
-pick up cheerios to eat with her thumb and sweet little finger
-army crawls
-goes from laying down to sitting up on her own
-claps her little hands
-pulls herself up to stand every now and again
-takes two naps a day, and for the last week or so, they've been a bit longer, sometimes 2 hours. Which always feels like an unprecedented luxury. But, unfortunately, she still wakes up once or twice a night.

She is moving a ton. Its a tricky business to change her diaper, she'll roll over in a hot second. I try to convince her to stay still with a toy, but its about 50-50.

She seems to rather like her "Pat the Bunny" book Brent's mom got her for Christmas. It has a fuzzy little bunny for her to touch, buttons for her to rattle, you know, blah blah. For toys, car keys and my watch are a no-fail.

We shared a moment the other day. I was feeding her peaches and telling her how delicious they were, and she was just laaaughing, and then I was laughing at her, and then she was laughing at me- you know, real bonding time. It felt like we were real friends for a minute.

The last few days she seems to get a bit slap happy when she's tired. She'll kind of cry, and then laugh real hard at something, and then cry again. Quite cute stuff.

The other day, I finally weighed 145 lbs., which is what I weighed pre-Eleanor. It was an excellent moment. But of course, I ate some pizza the other day at a friends house and now I weigh 149... but it'll go back down I'm sure... right? right?!

Also, I recently realized Ballet West holds adult ballet classes closer to my house so maybe I'll wander over there some time.