LAST WEEK:
Well the past week has been a little busy but definitely fun. Ellenor is really starting to grab at toys, my food, blankets, well pretty much anything that she can squeeze between those little fingers. She has also been playing in her Jenny Jump Up and so far has loved it, at least for the first ten minutes.

LAST WEEKEND:
Cody had to travel a little bit for work and I was fortunate enough to be able to accompany him. First stop was Rexburg on Thursday. We were up and out the door before the crack of dawn! I got to spend the morning with my friend Kristi while her husband attended the conference (I think that’s what you would call it?) that Cody was teaching at. The company Cody works for provided lunch and we decided to join the boys. If I had any doubts about my baby being the cutest thing in the world (which of course I know she is!) they would have been tromped on that afternoon by everyone oohing and aahing at her cuteness.

Friday Cody had another conference (? I guess it’s more like a mini school for a few hours?) in Logan. We drove down Thursday night and I was able to attend my sister in law Becky’s relief society’s birthday dinner. I believe it was Costa Vida who catered it; whoever it was they had AMAZING taco salads! Of course there was birthday cakes there of all flavors and colors. Yes, they had a BLUE cake!

We spent Friday outside with a nice run in the 70 degree weather, ate an awesome pizza from Papa Murphy’s (chicken, bacon, and artichokes on a thin crust, YUM!), and then the girls went and saw the HUNGER GAMES! We ditched the husbands and kids, which was actually kind of nice, and had a girls night. It was such a good movie! I am so taking Cody to go see it!

Ellie & her cousins outlines


Saturday Cody and I went to breakfast with one of my best friends growing up, ALLIE! It was so fun to see her and catch up. Ellenor really likes her, Allie was able to get some very big smiles out of her! We were also abe to eat at this cute little restaurant called the Crepery in Logan. It looks like a coffee house but they also make delicious crepes! My favorite!

THIS WEEK
Ellenor had her 4 month appointment on Monday. After waiting for half an hour in the waiting room, another hour in the room, and both of us enjoying a nap, we finally got her all taken care of. She is now a whole 11 lbs 8 oz and 23 inches long! She is getting big!!! And she is such a trooper. After my least favorite cry of hers, the one where you know she is really in pain because she doesn’t breathe for what seems to be an hour, she calmed down after a few minutes and hasn’t cried about it since!

Ellie and I decided to have a little "4 months" shoot! She knows the sound of my camera very well by now!

Monday night Cody left for some training up in Boise and I was sure lonely. Tuesday night I decided that  I would drive up and just spend the night and drive home Thursday. I wasn’t too sure if it would be worth it or not but let me tell you, it definitely was. I could never; I mean NEVER be a military wife. Those ladies are tough and strong and I don’t know how they can stand to spend so much time apart. It is hard!

As we were hanging out in the hotel room yesterday we decided to have another little picture session. She LOVES hotel beds for some reason! We also invited JaNae and her kids to come to but I wont post those pictures just yet!

Hoped you enjoyed the picture overload!

My days always turn out so much better when I take care of Ellenor first and quite frankly I don't mind it one bit! She is such a hoot! She is constantly smiling but we have yet to get a laugh out of her. She makes the funniest faces and always, always, always puts me in a better mood!

We brought her home in this elephant outfit and I wanted to take a picture of it next to her, I promise she looks a lot bigger than it in real life!

Ellenor sure does love her daddy!
Here is proof of her rolling! Such a stinking cutie!

Somehow people in my ward got this insane notion that I am crafty. Obviously whoever started that rumor was on some kind of serious drugs! We had a pinewood derby for the young women in the ward and had a blast! One of the cub scout leaders heard I made awards and asked to make them for the boys as well.

Well seeing how I love candy, they revolved around those! Here is an example of the awards that I made. Most crazy came with a Reese's Nutrageous and Best Design came with smartys!

Tonight Ellie and I get to watch Cody play volleyball, which is a treat because he is not a sports guy at all unless it is volleyball. Tomorrow we get to watch him play again before my race tomorrow and maybe if we are lucky afterwards to!

It has already been a long week and it is only Wednesday! Poor baby Ellie has been sick for the past week and a half with a cold and it is really starting to get to her. She decided the other night to start up a rebellion called “The Babies Against Sleep Movement .” Good thing it didn’t stick! Cody is such a good sport and would trade off trying to get her to sleep half way through the night. She finally slept again last night like she has been for the past few months, until at least 3:30 am and then once she eats goes right back to sleep. That might actually mean I can actually get school work done and have two hands to do it, after this post of course!

We are already in for some serious trouble. She is rolling like crazy. I put her on a blanket so that if she spits up it is a lot easier clean up. I left the living room for two seconds and came back to her half way across the room looking as innocent as can be! That little trickster! She definitely gets it from her dad! Surprisingly her favorite is to roll from her back to her belly and once there she is usually content to hang out like that for a while.

The only way I could get her to sleep for more than 5 minutes was to put her in her swing, which she loves! But even then it would only last for a little while but at least it kept her entertained! Ellenor has recently decided that swaddling is for babies and no matter what blanket I use or how tight I wrap her, she always gets those little hands out and starts sucking away on them. She also gets her feet free and they just start kicking like crazy!

I am doing another 5K this weekend and am getting really excited. Cody also might be playing in a local volleyball tournament for charity, not going to lie I am a little jealous! Cody has been working his tail off, he has got a lot on his plate at work but is working hard to keep his head above water. Not to mention coming home to a messy house, half naked baby, and wife who hasn't done anything but shower, hey at least I don't stink! He is one brave man and we sure do love him. It is fun to watch him play with Ellenor now that she is a lot more talkative and will grab things, like HAIR! Did I mention she is going to be a handful?

I can't believe how fast this little girl is growing up! She is still a baby, my baby. But pretty soon she is going to be crawling, she already puts her bum up in the air and puts her weight on her knees while her face is smashed into the floor. 3 1/2 months old, I still can't believe it has been that long!

If I haven't ever mentioned it before, I will again now. I. Love. to. Cook. I mean absolutely love it! Except for the clean up part and the having to wait patiently for the delicious smelling food to be done BUT other than that I love it.

Cody was gone earlier this week for work and last night I decided I would make him an amazing dinner, better than the restaurants that he has been eating at. For his birthday instead of a cake he always asks for pumpkin ice cream so of course I made that, it is almost gone already and it has barely been 24 hours since I made it.

He also loves and I mean LOVES steak and potatoes. Rib eye steaks were my poison of choice for last night. I wanted to make them extra special so of course I called my dinner Dr. (my mom, she is a walking cook book!) and she told me I needed to brown them and then put the entire pan in the oven to finish cooking, just like how they do it in restaurants. Ellie was being a good little helper until it was time to pull them out of the oven. She started really crying while sitting in her bumbo on the counter.

Any one who knows me knows that I am not a very skilled multi-tasker. At all. I just can't think about more than one thing at once. As I have the pan on the counter I am trying to calm her down by talking to her and looking at her while thinking about needing to move the steaks so they don't stick. Not a good idea. I completely grabbed the handle of the pan while I was looking the other way. I didn't realize what was going on until I turned my head to see that I had a good grip on it. Lets just say the next 15 minutes were spent bouncing a baby with one arm and the other hanging out under the coldest stream of water the faucet would allow.

 It didn't blister, thank heavens! And dinner still turned out great! We also had caramelized onions to put on top of the steak, mashed potatoes, and baked zucchini that turned out AMAZING and with no oil! I got the recipe from Here.

Look at that ice cream! Doesn't your mouth just water looking at that?! Yes, that is a 9 by 13 pan and NO we didn't eat it all by ourselves. But I may or may not have eaten a piece for breakfast.

On a non food related note, we finally have our new computer up and running. We have only ever had our two lap tops, mine died in June this past year and over the last couple months Cody's has been slowly dying as well. I never thought I could love a screen that was only 8 inches smaller than my TV but I do. Everything is so much larger, if I didn't feel old before I sure do now.

In preparing my lesson for Sunday, I found a quote that I absolutely love.

"Leave people better than you found them."-Marvin J Ashton

Tonight Ellenor and I will enjoy a girls night that will include some chocolate dipped strawberries while Cody is on a scout camp out. He is sure missing out!

This past weekend we were able to spend time in Boise, Cody had to do some work and I got to run my first 5k race! It ended up being a little over 5 miles and my sister in law JaNae and I finished it in 47 minutes! We also celebrated by going out to eat at Tucano's Brazilian Grill and it was amazing even though I was harassed for turning down the grilled pineapple only to steal some from Cody's plate.

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good about the run and decided to do a 3 mile run because I have got it in my head that a half marathon isn't too long. Yea right! It was 60 degrees and sunny out, I got a little bit too excited about running and decided to go a different way than I normally do. The first mile was great! I felt like I could run forever and the wind wasn't really blowing at all. Not having to hold onto the stroller and have it still move at the same pace should have been my first indicator. Eventually I turned around and I might as well have been doing lunges the entire way home because it sure felt like it! The wind was blowing so hard! Come to find out when I get home that the wind is blowing at 20 MPH. Needless to say I will be checking the weather next time, not just the temperature.

 

Ellenor is growing fast! I can't believe she is already 3 1/2 months! She is really starting to show her personality and so far we absolutely love it. She has to be the center of attention and if she isn't she is sure to let you know either by whining or by her new favorite SPITTING! She loves to smile and is getting really good at attracting new friends with her lure. She just wants to be constantly sitting up and if she is lying down she wants to be rolling, which she is getting to be really good at.

 I know I put  the soap box up but does it count if it is not about me? I don't  ever brag about Cody very much because he doesn't like attention. But he is practically perfect in every way. He is always so supportive of whatever crazy idea I come up with and doesn't complain too loudly if it is absolutely insane. Like going to Alaska this summer, did I mention we already bought the tickets? He is still liking his new job even though it means he is occasionally gone for a night or two. I wont embarrass him too much so I guess I will stop for now. But he is amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better husband and best friend to share my life with.

It is almost embarrassing to admit but when I went running today my average mile was 10 minutes! A year ago that wasn't even a problem. I know I have a long ways to go but running 3 miles today under 30 minutes felt amazing!

I am honestly embarrassed to admit this but I am going to because I feel so good and like I have come so far. In other words, I just feel like bragging a little bit. Last November I hit an inexcusable weight and felt terrible and absolutely miserable. I lost 25 pounds before finding out I was pregnant. I gained that 25 pounds back over the length of my pregnancy. I couldn't wait to start exercising again after Ellenor was born. My body must have known that I was ready to be rid of that weight for good because I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight within two weeks after having her.

At Christmas I was feeling great and got a new pair of jeans that were a size smaller than my old jeans. They are now too big! I have lost 20 more pounds and am excited about the last 15 I want to lose. I haven't been the weight that I am at now since I was a sophomore in high school. It feels absolutely amazing.

I know that I still have a ways to go to be where my ideal weight and fitness is at but I am excited about working towards it. My goal is to do a half marathon by the end of this year.

Ok I am done ranting. My soap box is put up where it belongs and wont be back out for a while.

Speaking of being healthy...
Don't worry they were for a young women's activity and not all for me.
 I actually just wanted to show off the awesome flower I made. Its just a Styrofoam ball, pins, and cup cake lingers. Thank you pintrest!