I hope you don't mind a trillion and a half bath pictures...

 

The past few nights baths have saved me, I wish I was joking. I have been wanting to eliminate her night time cat nap but she has taken it into her own hands to let me know that she no longer needs it. But she does need a bath to calm her down. Last night she screamed, she found her scream last week, for literally two hours. Nothing I did would calm her down, not even going outside! I was almost in tears by the time I put her in the bath. After her bath she was perfectly calm except for the rolling while trying to put her diaper on. Any suggestions on how to keep them on their back for two seconds would be much appreciated.

Tonight when I got home from visiting teaching Cody told me he had to go home teaching. Hooray, another night not eating dinner together. I had laid everything out before I left and decided that we had 45 minutes before he had to leave and if we hurried fast enough he would have time to eat. Just as we set the food on the counter and plates ready to go we looked at the clock. Those darn things! It was time to leave, poor guy. He had to leave a hot meal, all laid out on the counter beckoning his name, to go fulfill his duties. What a great guy!

I love, love, LOVE reading birth stories. Is that way to weird to admit out loud? Well too bad, because I do. They remind me so much of meeting miss Ellenor. I think I like them because people can actually put into words how they feel when they first meet their little ones and not sound like an absolute moron. Well today I was reading a birth story from a girl I once met that was in my ward. OK so we talked a few times but I doubt if she remembers me. Back on track… she mentioned that she could not love anyone more than she loves her new baby. But I have to disagree because every day I learn to love my little girl more and more. She always has something new up her sleeve ready to throw me off guard. I remember holding Ellenor every waking moment (of her being awake) and not wanting to put her down thinking that I could never love her any more than I did at that moment.

This girls has taught me a lot about patience, that no matter what you don’t have the choice to just give up but that it is ok to step out of the room and take a breather, that snuggling for hours on end has never killed anyone, the cure for almost any kind of sadness is a treat, good movie, and snuggles (Oh, wait! I already knew that one!), that no matter what a mother’s love is the strongest, and that no matter what I do or say she can’t complain yet and still loves me. I may have to retract that last statement in a few years though. And that no matter how much a mother tries to be the favorite; there is nothing, absolutely nothing like the bond between a daughter and her daddy.

The week before last I was able to go to girls camp with the young women. It was an absolute blast. I think I liked it the most because I really did not have any responsibilities and was able to just hang out with the girls and get to know them better. We had a lot of fun things crammed into the two days that we were there. We had mini lessons, skits, games, and both nights there was a hot chocolate bar. The first night I helped convince one of the girls to climb under the table and untie peoples shoes as they were getting their hot chocolate. One of the girls looked down at her feet a few minutes later and said, "Aw man! My shoe laces untied themselves again! Dang it!" 

It was nice to be able to just spend time out in the woods, I miss being constantly surrounded by trees. These girls are seriously so amazing. They are such strong individuals and have confidence that I could only dream of. I loved being able to get to know them better and even be involved in their "confession session." I actually had to go home and tell Cody a funny story or two just in case the girls brought it up. 

It is just about midnight and instead of sleeping I am blogging. Why? I honestly don’t know why it can’t wait until tomorrow. But I love how people write about their babies and what they are doing or how they act at certain times. I haven't done it at all because I feel like they are just silly thing that I have to write about and that they wont change. But I should have started a lot sooner with these lists because I already miss a lot of things she used to do. 

So here is my list on Ellenor at 7 months old:

 

-She LOVES to sleep on her side, she will not sleep flat on her back and has been trying to sleep on her stomach but we always move her.
- She crosses her ankles when we try to change her. It still makes me laugh every time despite how obnoxious it is.
- She is just about to crawl and I don’t know if I am ready for that yet. We like to call it the inch worm, while up on her hands and knees she will pull her knees in closer and then stretch out and belly flop. She has started grabbing things while on all fours and is getting really good at balancing.
-Speaking of balancing… she is sitting up on her own great. She is even starting to catch herself before she falls and it makes it so much nicer just to be able to put her on the ground.
- She is moving all over the place. She inched wormed her way from one side of the living room all the way into the kitchen.
- She loves to scratch things. She does not just touch them, she scratches and rubs them.
-DVD cases and the volume remote are two go to items if she is screaming uncontrollably. Tom and Jerry is the ultimate Ellenor shut-her-up-er. There is something about that show that just makes her so happy.
-She still loves to suck on her finger and has finally out grown sucking on her bottom lip. Thank heavens!
- She LOVES her cousins. Whenever they are around, she is silent and just watches everything they do.
- She loves to be outside. We usually spend part of the afternoon on the front lawn, especially right after we check the mail because she will scream if we go inside too soon.
- To sleep she has to have a blanket tucked up against her, she usually pulls it in tight and snuggles with it.
- She eats an entire jar of baby food in one sitting plus a normal sized bottle. Twice a day yet she is still skinny and tall!
- She LOVES her bath and splashing. Her first time swimming last Saturday was a great success. I am afraid we have a little fish on our hands.
- She thinks it’s a fun game for me to move things to the other side of my leg that I do not want her to play with, like my textbook, and she climbs over my leg to get it. She finds it highly entertaining.
-She is still a champ with naps and sleeping through the night but has had a few rougher nap times the past couple of days. Apparently someone told her naps are optional.
-She cannot be turned with her back to the world, she has to be facing/standing facing forward so she can see everything.
-She has the squishiest cheeks ever and I kiss them at least 3 million times a day. At least.
- She likes to play in her crib when she wakes up or is delaying her nap. She discovered her crib bumper right after we put it on and she pulls it down and chews on it or scratches it.
- She LOVES Cody. At times I am a little jealous about how excited she gets when she hears his voice.

 

In other news… I did not do anything for Cody for father’s day, I am a terrible wife, I know! He got home late Friday night and on Saturday he was awesome and mowed the lawn. We went swimming that afternoon, made a quick trip to the store, and came home to relax and just watch movies. Sunday I didn’t even make him breakfast, we both had lessons to prepare and get ready for church. We did go to his parents house for a tin foil dinner on Sunday. I am pretty sure he knows that I love him, even if I don’t get him huge presents or make crazy intense meals. At least I sure hope he does.

I spent all day long, literally from 8:30 AM to 10:30 PM, at youth conference today. We had a blast even though all four young women’s leaders were not even with any of our youth. They had five different stations to rotate between. There was service, geo caching, getting to know you, minute to win it, and an obstacle course. In the minute to win it games they had to blow up a balloon with their nose until it popped and it looked really intense. One girl ended up having a really bad bloody nose and couldn’t even finish.

Our garden is doing amazing! (Note to self- take pictures of things actually surviving and me having a part in it, it’s not just all Cody!) We have quite a few tomatoes that are quite large already, the carrots are about ready, and we picked a good sized bucket of strawberries the other day and ate them all in under an hour.

June has been a crazy month. I have not really made time to run at all which is really sad. I have recommitted and am signing up for my first half marathon. I will do a lot better and start feeling as amazing as I was. I don’t miss actually running itself but how it made me feel and look.

These next couple of weeks are going to be fun. Busy but fun. We are already in count down mode for everything and the list of to do’s just keeps piling up. Oh, summertime!

I am currently sitting reclined in the most comfortable bed that could be in a hotel. Thank you Marriott! Oh, and Cody's work. I am listening to the sound of the television playing quietly in the background and miss Ellenor talking to herself and rolling all over the bed. She is barricaded in with pillows but has still managed to change directions many times. She has kicked all the blankets off of her and has been rolling around perfectly happy for the past hour. I am not even going to try to contain her at this point, especially because of the day she has had. 

Cody had work to do up in the Rexburg area and not having anything else going on besides homework but that can always wait until after play, I couldn't resist coming along for the ride. We spent the day with three of my most favorite girls while Cody was out doing his thing and Ellenor loved it! 

Li-sha's was our first stop and we just love her. She is just so fun and its nice to have someone to discuss Alaska and all its amazing summer fun that we are missing. She is also making the most beautiful afghan that I have ever seen. She was working on it the last time that we saw her, 42 crocheted squares takes a lot longer to make than you would think. She is very patient and very, very brave.

Kaylene and I were neighbors growing up and I was so sad when she moved three hours away right when I was about to start middle school (we were a year apart in school). She has spent the past 18 months (plus a little over a month being home in Alaska before heading to Idaho for school) in California serving a mission and just being amazing. It was so fun for her to finally get to meet Ellenor. They get along very well already, I don't think Ellenor really stopped smiling the entire time we were there. Well, that is not counting the time I whipped out the camera, she is on smiling strike when that thing is around. Kaylene is great with babies and I am so excited for her to be an aunt.

We spent the evening with our good friends Kristi and Eric. We absolutely love spending time with them and love watching them with Ellie. She especially loves Eric, I sometimes think even more than me or Cody. We are so excited for them to be parents, they find out next week if the little peanut (well 10 inch peanut) is a boy or girl!!! Can't wait for that phone call!

Sometimes I get down and feel as if we have no friends who really care about us or what is going on in our lives. But I know that is just Satan working his awful magic because we have the best friends anyone could ask for. They do care and actually like us enough to let us come visit them. Thank heavens for great the best friends.

Ellie decided to move the pillows and just about fell off of the bed. I don't think any of the neighbors would have liked to hear a loud scream at midnight. She is currently burrowing her head into the pillows trying to fall asleep. This may be a long, interesting night...

 Family pictures!!! The awesome lady we had do them posted a few on her Facebook page and let me tell you that I am so. stinkin'. Excited! They are amazing and I can't wait to display pictures of our family all over our house.We took our pictures at my sister's in laws back yard. Pam does an amazing job with her garden and we loved being able to take our pictures there.

Girls Camp. was amazing to say the least. It was such an incredible experience to be able to spend the past few days with the girls in a setting that does not involve all the worries of the world and electronics. We ate good, didn't sleep so well, laughed until we cried, and took a million pictures, it will need its own post. 

Ellenor. is the cutest baby ever and I am so excited to be able to be home with her. I missed her so very much. I almost feel bad for saying that it was nice to have a night off and not have to wake up to put a pacifier back in. But it was nice to sleep as peacefully as possible with crazy ladies talking and being loud. If you thought that the young girls were loud then you have never had to sleep with adult ladies. 

Missionaries!!!! Are great. I got a letter from my best friend Marie today, she is serving in Brazil. It is amazing that she wrote it over a month ago and I just barely received it. She sent me three pictures and in all three of the pictures she is wearing the same dress, I didn't even notice. She looks so beautiful and is doing great. I am just so excited for her, I know its tough but she is such a great example to me. She is so strong and has such strong convictions in everything she does.

Cody. is finally coming home tomorrow. I am jealous that he gets to see my sister tonight but we want our Cody back, sorry Iowa, you have had him for long enough! 

This weekend just needs to be here already, I am so excited for it and it isn't coming fast enough. I really haven't seen Cody very much this past week. Wednesday we both had mutual, scouts, and work and it wasn't until 9:30 that we were both finally home. Cody headed up to Boise on Thursday and didn't get home until around ten. On Friday he had a scout camp out and got home at 11:30 on Saturday morning, which was a nice surprise that they got home so early. We ran to Twin and I got some new Merrill Hiking shoes and I can't wait to use them tomorrow! But of course Saturday went by way to fast and Cody left for Iowa bright and early on Sunday. So early in fact that I wouldn't let him give Ellenor a kiss goodbye because I didn't want her to be awake while I was trying to get ready. 

We, Ellenor and I, were at church for 5 hours straight by the time we left. Thank you meetings and choir practice. She must have known that I was stressed about it because I was alone and we needed to be there for a long time because she was absolutely PERFECT! She let me rocker her to sleep, which is rare, and she actually slept during all the loud songs and with crazy loud kids.

But that was yesterday and today is a new day. Ellenor knows that something is going on, at least she is acting like it. I used to be excited about having a night off from just being a mom. But my eyes start to water just thinking about not being around Ellie for the next two days. With Cody its a little bit different because I can talk to him and express my love for him. But I can't do that with her, especially because there is no reception in the mountains. I am so excited to be able to spend the next couple of days with the young women that I have come to love so much. I know Ellenor will be in good hands with family but I can't help but miss her already. 

Being a mother isn't always snuggles and kisses. This afternoon Ellenor was very cuddly which is rare but I took full advantage of it, along with the strawberries that melt in your mouth from our garden. Its times like those that I wish I could freeze and not let any more time pass. I guess that is why I like to take pictures so much, so I have a little glimpse of what that moment was. This afternoon the sun was shining in on us, a perfectly calm girl rubbing my hands, and eventually falling asleep, both of us. There is nothing more I would rather be doing than spending each and every day with this beautiful little girl. My girl.

Being home alone is not what it is cut out to be. Movies and entertainment portray a night home alone as a time to be completely relaxed, paint your toe nails, and do whatever you want! Sadly, that isn’t reality. Being home alone is actually very, very lonely. If I know Cody is going to be gone for the night it just sets something off inside of me. I don’t want to do anything but wallow in self pity and eat junk food. Or clean, which is VERY rare!

Tonight I was invited to a girls night and was looking forward to having an excuse to get out for the night. Of course because it was planned Ellenor decided that she did not want to cooperate and needed a lot of sleep. I figured that since I already needed to run into town to return a redbox that I might as well grab another one… or two… and invite my long lost friends over, Ben and Jerry. More specifically half baked. DELICIOUS! Cody doesn’t let me get it so it was a nice little treat. Not to mention the strawberries, grapes, and bananas I got as well. I was feeling guilty over all that chocolate so I couldn't not invite them!

So what do you do when you are home alone with a grumpy baby who is rioting eating and sleeping? Make it a party with good food with an invitation for only one.

I was feeling down about not being able to go tonight and texted my friend Kayla to let her know I wouldn’t be going. I think part of my problem is I look forward to things so much, especially when it is something outside of the house and it isn’t cooking, cleaning, or doing homework. On her way over to the party she brought me chocolate chip cookies!!! It is amazing what great timing people can have. Just as I was feeling like I didn’t have any friends in the area and feeling even more alone, there she was. It wasn’t any big, grand gesture but just that simple act of kindness, of taking the time to make a quick little stop made the biggest difference in the world. I need to act on those little promptings to help others more often; you can make a great difference without knowing the impact that you have.

Last weekend we were at Target, I was headed to the dressing room when I came across a man in his mid thirties on one of the motorized carts. He had a cast on his leg that extended to just below the knee and his cart was not working. He had a distressed look on his face and kept pushing the buttons trying to make it work. But I just walked right passed him. I turned right after I passed him about to offer to help him but another man beat me to it. Right as the other man offered to help him the cart started up and he declined the offer but thanked him. I should have taken that opportunity instead of being so involved in what I was doing. I am so selfish it’s disgusting. I am watching We Bought a Zoo and I absolutely love it. All it honestly takes is 20 seconds of courage to change the course of a life. Here's to more 20 second opportunities!

 

On a lighter note, also known as miss Ellenor, she is getting to be more fun every single day. She reminds me to just take time and enjoy things. She loves to be outside. I wait to go check the mail because just the whole two minutes it takes to walk to the mail box and back makes the biggest difference to her. She loves to look at everything and is fascinated by new people and new sounds. She tries so hard to crawl and to do things that she just can’t quite do. She gets to frustrated because she is almost there and will rock back and forth.

 

 

She is my reminder to start every day fresh. Just because the day before may not have been the best, there will always be a new morning waiting. The morning is when she is at her prime. We will often lie in bed while Cody is getting ready and just look at each other. Sometimes I cry and sometimes she does to but most of the time she just smiles at me and you would think that nothing else could make her any more happy than just being in that moment with you. It is those simple moments, looking at her, that I know that there is nothing else I would rather be doing than taking care of this sweet spirit and learning so much from her. She is my greatest teacher.

We are very culturally diverse. Tonight for dinner the plan was to have spaghetti, the meat was already thawing out on the counter when we decided to make a quick trip to the store. While at the store Cody decided that since I made chicken fried rice last night he really needed egg rolls to go along with our dinner tonight. Gross idea, I know. But I agreed because I was famished! Ok maybe not that starving but I was still hungry. By the time we had gotten home it turned into egg rolls and french fries. Hello freezer and thank you for the meal!

We also rented the Help from Redbox. I love Cody and I. Always, without fail, always right after we have a discussion about cutting back on excess things and saving money we spend money on things that are not absolute necessities. Tonight it was frozen egg rolls and a redbox. Oh well. It makes for a great night. Not to mention a happy, content baby to add to the relaxing atmosphere.

A random thought about this movie... I love Celia Foote's relationship with Johnny. He is so in love with his wife that nothing else matters. He doesn't care about her insecurities and just wants to be the best husband for her. I just love it. I wish they would show more of it in the movie, it was my favorite thing about the book.

"You is smart. You is kind. You is important." Randomly I will hear Cody repeating these to Ellenor. It makes me melt every. single. time.

Ellenor is my favorite form of  free entertainment. (She isn't really cheap, we just dropped $200 this past weekend on diapers and formula but you get what I mean) While she drinks her bottle, usually on the floor because she arches her back and thinks its funner to play when I am holding her, she will pull it out of her mouth and just stare at it as if she is examining a moon rock. 

Girls camp is next week and I have very mixed feelings. I am nervous to leave Ellenor overnight just because I am afraid she will be a nightmare. She can be a complete pill, more often than you'd think. I am also anxious for girls camp because it is so short, barely over two full days. I know for me it was something that I needed every summer and I am afraid that these girls wont get as much out of it as they would if it was a full week like it normally is. We will make the most out of it and I already have a few tricks up my sleeve for my girls, they are in for a real treat. I know it will be good and they will have fun. I just hope they will be able to have the opportunity spend time together and grow spiritually from one another. 

 

 

 

 

We told Chase to open his eyes.

Act surprised!

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching Jessica how to ride!

A few things as I am sitting here about to scarf down an entire bag of buttered popcorn while watching Count of Monte Cristo (one of Cody’s favorites!)…

-I knew if I didn’t post these pictures I wouldn’t get around to it… so here is the biggest picture overload that will ever exist on this blog. Well, maybe.
-A few funny things about these pictures. 1. Avery is absolutely adorable and is going to seriously break some hearts when she is older. 2. We told Chase to stand by the tree and then take two steps forward he continued to lean on the tree and move his feet outwards. 3. Ethan makes AMAZING silly faces and he looks a lot older than 5 years old. 4. We Carter girls (now Dain, Rindlisbacher, and Searle) make the cutest babies ever.
-My sisters are my best friends. It was amazing to all be in the same place at one time. It needs to happen more often!
-Putting babies right next to each other is hilarious, they love to touch each other’s faces and give disapproving and shocked expressions when it happens right back to them.
-The most fun thing about going to Utah was seeing my brother Jeremy play with Ellenor. I think she really likes him but I am disappointed I didn’t get a picture of them playing together. He laughs at everything she does and she smiles right back in return.
-Looking at pictures of Cody and I on that bike makes me smile. We got to have a little us time (30 whole minutes!) and went for a drive up through the canyon at sunset. It was b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l!
-Also looking at these pictures makes me SOOOOOOOOOOO so very excited to get our pictures already! We had them taken right before we took cousin pictures and I already know that they will be fantastic!!!

Other random thoughts…
-It’s almost embarrassing to write but it is a victory for me. I bought a swimsuit from a real store, not a plus size store! I love post baby shrinkage!
-I cannot get motivated to run for longer than 20-30 minutes on the treadmill. Any suggestions?!?!
-Postal system is dumb. I need my book to be here already so I can get started on my homework that is due on Wednesday.
-I am seriously inhaling this popcorn and I should really put it away!


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAND
-I got the best call ever tonight. Cody was in the driveway with his cousin when I went out bawling, they both thought someone had died. But I don’t want to jinx it and have it not work out but June 30^th should be a very, very, very special day for my sister and we couldn’t be happier!