Joys of being a Mommie

Isn't it sad that you spend every minute of every day with the cutest little girl in the world and only have 2 pictures of the two of you together? The first you look like crap because you just gave birth to her and the second a family picture.
This week I decided to change that!

Who wouldn't want to spend every minute with this face?

For the time being Elsa is MY little girl.
This past week she has done something everyday to melt my heart.
One day I went grocery shopping, when I got home arms full of groceries I passed through the living room saying hi to my sweet baby and husband being careful not to drop anything. When I vanished from sight Elsa started crying. I couldn't go any farther. I dropped everything and cuddled my little princess.
Another day I was doing dishes and Blake walked in the kitchen with Elsa. I leaned in to give her a kiss and she reached for me!! I had to hold back the tears because I knew Blake was a little jealous and I didn't want to rub it in.

Being mommie you have first row seats to all the latest tricks and new finds.
Nothin' but fun!
 
Because papa is too prickly I'm the only one that can get kisses.
Well, she really only does it when she's hungry and she knows papa doesn't have anything for her but I'm the mommie I can call them whatever I want.

Elsa also loves to blow raspberries. It's so cute when she mimics you.

Elsa gets a little silly when she gets sleepy.

She's still a little wobbly but is starting to get the hang of sitting up.

Elsa loves to be outside! Whither it's going on a walk or just playing in the grass.

Elsa loves the feeling of grass in her toes and loves the feel of it on her fingers. In Utah we don't have to worry about chiggers!!

Pretty Princess!!

I love spending everyday with Elsa. Each day holds new adventures!! I'm amazed that such a tiny little person can fill our home with so much love and joy.
I know one day soon Elsa won't be able to get enough of her papa and want nothing to do with her mommie so I'm enjoying all the hugs and kisses I can get now.
I love being a mommie!!

* I know mommie is spelled wrong. It's a GrandMommie Russell thing.

6 months!!

Children really can measure time in how much they have grown.
So much happens in such a short amount of time.
Elsa is half way to being a one year old :(
Hopefully the next 6 months won't go by so fast but we will still cherish every moment!

Elsa is really turning into such a big little girl. If that makes any sense...
It seems like there is so many new things happening at this time in her life, it feels like she is such a big girl.

Can I say how much we enjoy and love our little Elsa enough?
She is the brightest star in our lives, her smile melts my heart every time!

Its amazing to watch her become stronger everyday.
Look what I can do with out any help!!

Do worry we don't leave her unattended on the bed.

Elsa has taken over her Papa's heart... and his chair.
We sit her down in the chair but she would rather lay down and relax.

It is so cute to listen to all her sounds!!
She started talking real baby babble it is so cute and it's so soft, as if she is talking to herself.
She loves to scream as loud as she can... as high as she can.
It's so funny to listen to Blake try to mimic her and it is such a blast to spend all day having screaming wars. Is it bad to say she already gives me headaches?

Our little punkin had her first cold and fever :(
She was not letting it get the best of her. She tried so hard to play and be herself but you could tell she did not feel very well. After snuggling and resting with mama she would attempt to play again. We tried to put her in her jumperoo to cheer her up but she would just lay her head down as if it weighed a ton.

She was even trying to play with the toys.
My poor baby. It was so sad to see her so down.

Like I said Elsa is starting a lot of big girl things this month.
She got a high chair! Still a little too small for it and can't quite sit up by herself.

Why does she need a high chair?
Because she started eating baby food!

Besides getting it in her hair and all over her face, she's doing pretty well.
She doesn't enjoy the spoon very much but she'll drink it just fine.
She's not liking the jarred fruits but is doing pretty well with cereal.

And for dessert...
Blake loves to share his otter pops with her, only if she promises not to be a sugar brat when she gets older. I guess I'm the one that will have to be the mean parent when it comes to that.

Elsa truly has Blake wrapped around her little finger. It is so adorable to watch Blake choose an outfit for her, fix her hair, pick out accessories, and then pick a matching outfit for himself. He's better at it than I am.

I love my little family!
I love where we are in life and I know it will continue to get better!!
I am so blessed!

Summertime Softball

This past summer Blake played softball for a couple different leagues.

It's so fun to see him doing something he really enjoys
and that he's very talented at.
It was so amazing to see him diving through the air to catch a fly ball and to watch him smack the balls out of the park.

Elsa loved cheering for her papa!!

Blake and I also played for the ward softball team and
we won the tournament!

Happy Birthday Blake and Duncan!!!

September 4th!!
This is one of my favorite days. On this day we celebrate the birth of two very important men in my life... Blake, my amazing husband, and Duncan, my sweet baby boy.
Duncan, two years ago blessed our lives with his arrival into our family. Although we didn't get to keep him very long on earth we know we will be able to spend eternity with him and are so blessed with the love and joy he left with us.


Blake turned 26 and still as handsome as ever!! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband! He works so hard for our family, in fact he worked on his birthday. He is always willing to help anyone and everyone and we are so blessed he is so smart. He can do anything!
For his special day we went to a friend's house to watch the BYU football game. BYU won!
Elsa modeling her BYU ribbon skirt!

Blake blowing out the candles on his birthday cake!

Thanks to years and years of working at Baskin Robbins I was able to pull off this all ice cream cake (cookies'n cream, blake's fav).

Missouri

July 26 - August 12

This summer we got to have fun in Missouri with more of the family!

Elsa did such a good job on the planes. She had no problems with her ears popping and we would have had no problems if our second flight wasn't an hour delayed. I tried to plan the best schedule I could for her and everything would have worked out great but the delay messed it up a bit. She fussed/cried a little at the beginning and then calmed down and fell asleep. When we landed she woke up and gave everyone that could see a great big smile. Then of course nobody could be upset with her.
When we got off the plane and we had the biggest loudest and best welcome home cheer from Grandma Dee and two of my sisters Micah and Tyre!!
Everyone was so happy to see us... well Elsa anyways!

One of the first things we got to do was drive by the Temple site.
I can already imagine it against the pretty blue sky.

Elsa got so much attention from everybody,
especially her cousins Anna and Adiline.

Anna was so loving towards Elsa all the time. She always wanted to play with her. She was so helpful. Anna and Adiline both got pinkeye while we were there, one right after the other. As much as they wanted to play with Elsa they were so good about not getting too close with their boogie eyes. Good enough Elsa didn't catch it!
Elsa got so many kisses from her Anna.

Anna even shared her dress up jewelry.
So Pretty!

Taking baths at Grandma's was fun,
even though she didn't fit in the sink very well.

Grandma DEE !!
My mother is one of my favorite people to play with and we got to play a lot! We went antique shopping, our favorite thing to do!! I remember when I was a kid and my mother would drag us from antique store to antique store and I hated it, now It's one of my favorite past times! It's so fun to go with my mom and my sisters, more eyes to find treasures!
Thanks mommie for everything you did for us!!

Auntie Micah!
For the first week every time Micah would hold Elsa, Elsa would start crying. Just coincidence of course. Elsa loves her Micah! Micah was so wonderful and ventured out everyday to play with us!

Water balloon fight!
It was so hot in Missouri!
It gets hot in Utah but nothing like Missouri, I do not miss the humidity at all.

Elsa remembers Auntie Neesha when she got to snuggle with her when she was just 2 weeks old and was so excited to see her again. Elsa got to meet her "cousins" Meela and Meeshie. They were so soft and furry. They reminded her of her papa.


One day we went to visit Auntie Neesha and Uncle Kyle in Lawrence. They took us to this house that had ZEBRAS in their front yard.


This is the house that had the zebras.
If you can afford zebras I guess you can afford a house like this.
Silly Aunt T-T
or should I say Scary Aunt T-T
We loved playing with Tyre everyday!!

Uncle Evan... gracious enough to take the left over seat... the trunk.

Evan and Tyre were in competition as to who would win the heart of Elsa and be the favorite Aunt or Uncle.... they both captured her heart.


Elsa got to go swimming for the first time...and second and third.


It didn't phase her at all. She just chilled the whole time. The only time she didn't like it was when we went in the middle of the day and it was so sunny. Even with a hat you couldn't keep it out of her eyes.




She got worn out. Too much fun in one day.

Elsa also had her first babysitters!
My sisters, some girlfriends and I went out for an evening and
Uncle Matt and cousin Anna took care of Elsa.

The last weekend we were in Missouri Uncle Corban, Aunt Teneill and cousin Pepper were out to visit so we decided to get some pictures with the girls!




All we needed was Uncle Dalin and Papa Blake to complete the picture.

Playing with fun toys!

So much fun being with everyone!


We went to Lawson and visited Aunt Tiffany, Uncle Adam and cousins Alexis, Brayden, Chloe and Bella!
I could not believe it, Chloe ate a whole fudgesicle! One huge bite at a time! I promise, 7 bites and it was gone!


Lexie is a little obsessed with the chipettes. She was having fun pretending that Elsa and the twins were the chipettes as she repeated their songs, over and over again.

Lexie and Brayden also put on a play for us. Lexie was Brittany(chipette) and Brayden was Alvin(chipmunk). Brayden was such a good sport, even though he didn't dance as much as she wanted him to.
I can't believe how much the 4 of them have grown up.
Lexie is so kind and such a drama queen (in a theatrically good way), Brayden is such a stud, cooler than the flip side of my pillow. The twins aren't the 4 lbs I remember them being but are even cuter.

We were so excited we got to attend Candi's baby shower for little Sawyer. Candi is one of the cutest pregnant woman I have ever seen. She beams, you could definitely tell they were excited and we know they are going to be great parents.We were a little sad that we missed Sawyer's arrival by just a couple days, but are happy we got to play with his mommy and daddy.



Baby Duncan or Big Brother Duncan
It was so nice to visit him. Sometimes life is so crazy that I feel so far away from him, in those moments I take a time out and stare at his picture and remember that we will only be apart for a short time. Its been interesting to see Elsa grow so big but still to have the feeling that I still have a little tiny baby waiting for me. I definitely can't imagine him being almost 2 years old, that's just crazy!

Elsa on the way home!
We had such a wonderful trip but we were ready to see our papa after 3 weeks of missing him.

Thanks Micah for helping me "arrange" my luggage for the flight home!
I'm still laughing about it!!

It was so wonderful visiting and playing with everyone!
We love you all soo much!!
XOXOXOXO