He Did It!!!

Will graduated! Woohoo! Cue the trumpets air horns and silly string!

Eric, Nick and Charlie weren't able to make the trip so Mary and I loaded up Elle and Henry and hit the road Saturday morning. Elle wasn't the most cooperative on the way there; she was SO READY to get out of the car.

The babes ended up getting squirmy during the ceremony so we left our seats and let them roam around...hand in hand. :)

When they called Will's name we screamed and cheered and Mama Rita blew an air horn. :) We are so proud of this guy! The college world tour is officially over!!

 

 

After graduation Mom & Dad treated us all to dinner to celebrate Will. After dinner Mary and I gave each babe a can of silly string and set them loose on Unc. Elle was still talking about it 2 days later. :)

Our ride home was a little bumpy but this time not because of Elle. ;) Both babes passed out almost immediately and about 30 minutes into our drive our phones went off that a tornado warning was in the area and to take shelter immediately. Of course we called Mom and Dad to see what we should do, Dad said keep going! Mary was booking it! haha A majority of the ride home was spent discussing what to do if we see a tornado, we had a game plan to make sure those babes stayed safe. Once Elle and Henry woke up the rest of the ride consisted of fighting over which song to listen to on repeat. We heard "What Does the Fox Say", "Who Let the Dogs Out" and "Bananas" several times. :)

That bad weather couldn't dampen our day though, so glad we made the trip and were able to watch T walk across that stage!

April

April is one of my favorite months, not just because it's the month of my birthday.  I love the colors and the weather when it cooperates. Nice days aren't taken for granted since your just coming out of winter.  Between our trip to Chicago, Easter and celebrating my birthday the month just flew by.

A stomach bug hit Eric and my mom so Elle got to spend a fun day with MiMi, Henry and Charlie!

Elle is still really loving her baby dolls.  We change their diapers a lot as she insists that they have pooped. 


We are still in the middle of her Elmo obsession.  Our bedtime routine consists of watching the same episode of Sesame Street (Grandparent's Day).  It's really Elmo heavy at the beginning so it holds her attention.  She falls asleep every night in our bed, sometimes I carry her over to her crib once she's sleeping, sometimes I just let her cuddle in bed with me all night. :)

She enjoys trying on my wedding ring...

One of Elle's favorite things is playing with our phones.  I have the cutest video of her having an imaginary phone conversation with Mary.  It's so cute how she paces around and uses her hand while talking.  She also uses my phone to take pretend pictures of herself.  She lifts the phone above her head and says "cheese!".

She still loves to help me feed and let the puppies outside.  One of my most favorite things is how she talks to the dogs, she is very serious when telling them "no!" to things they shouldn't be doing.

 

 

These days she can say almost anything or at least she tries. :)  She's slowly starting to string words together.  Her first case of doing this was "Henny Doctor Hotdog".  One day when Henry was being extra silly he referred to himself as doctor hotdog. #crazycousinHenry  When Eric is being silly she says "dad-eeeeee", it's adorable.

 

Elle is still a great eater although she is starting to have her days where she doesn't eat the greatest at a meal.  It maybe happens once a week.  Some of her favorite foods right now are string cheese, bananas, grapes, yogurt covered raisins, chicken hot dogs (just rolled up deli lunch meat, MawMaw started the trend of calling them hot dogs), Pirate's Booty (a baked somewhat healthier version of cheese puffs) and Mac & Cheese (I try to buy the organic Annie's brand which makes me feel better about her mac n cheese love). And she loves just about any treat known to man...kitkat's, M&M's, cookies...all big hits with Roni.

We have been working on manners, if I ask her "What do you say?" she knows to say "Please" and will say "thank you" but needs to be reminded. :) She also loves pointing out any kind of mess, even if she's the one who made it.

If you ask her who's girl she is, she always says "PawPaw" :)

One of her favorite ways of playing is to vacuum.  She has her little mini vacuum and she wants me to get out our big one and we pick a room to clean.  She loves it and I love a freshly vacuumed room so no complaints on my end.

 

 

This is how Elle and MawMaw share a cup of yogurt :)

This little girl is growing up so fast...too fast.  She's turning into a big girl and I know times with baby Eleanor are coming to an end soon. I truly love each stage more than the next but I hate how quick each one goes by.  I get a lump in my throat each time I pack away clothes from her closet that are too small and know that those clothes she's waiting to grown into at the end of her closet will one day look so tiny to me. I'm beginning to understand why my mom would always cry at big milestones, it's not always easy watching your baby grow up...but it sure is fun. :)

Weekend Fun

We had a really fun weekend with amazing weather!  With Eric's new work schedule every week is different, this week he worked Friday and Saturday night.  It's definitely a huge adjustment and taking some time to get used to.  Elle and I miss him dearly the weekends he works.  However, this weekend we had three little partners in crime.  Nick happened to be out of town all weekend so we were able to spend lots of time with Mary, Henry and Charlie...or "baby" as Elle always calls him.

On Friday we met up with our friend K-Ro then headed out to dinner.  Henry chose the location, "Chicken-Fil-A" where he can "eat and play".  He needs to do their marketing. :)

On Saturday we rolled in to Elle's gymnastics class a tad late, then headed to the zoo to meet up with the Voss family. We had a really fun day, beautiful weather and despite it being pretty crowded never had to wait in too terrible of a line for anything.

We stopped to have lunch at Lakeside Cafe.  It is comical how long it takes us to do the simplest tasks.  Due to the crowds we immediately grabbed an open table.  Then Mary and Henry stood in line to order their food while Elle, Charlie and I stayed back at the table.  Once they had their food I went up to order for Elle and I.  After we all ate we started the parade to the bathrooms. Since the bathrooms were fairly small with a line we decided it would be easiest to take each babe separately.  I went with Elle first to change her, then Mary and Henry went, then Mary came back and took Charlie and then finally I had to go.  Don't forget each time someone went you had to wait in line.  Our quick lunch probably took around 2 hours.  It's our new normal.

We took advantage of our zoo membership and rode the train and carousel.  I LOVE having that membership, best gift idea ever!!!  Elle slept through 75% of the train ride but she really enjoyed the short bit she was awake for. 

Her animal of choice for the carousel was a little wart hog...odd. She was very serious throughout the ride, it's like she knew she had a very important job of holding on tight. :)

After a nap in the car as we headed back home we stopped at Panteras for dinner which is where we snapped this adorable picture of Henry and Elle on a mechanical horse.  The resemblance to Dumb and Dumber is uncanny.

On Sunday we woke up slowly, we were both totally wiped out from the zoo adventures.  Eric got home from work Sunday morning and cooked Elle and I a big breakfast while we watched Frozen.

Next we made a stop by the park before going grocery shopping (where our bagger said Elle and I look identical and it totally made my day) .  Elle picked me 2 dandelions at the park and one for herself.  This girl knows how to melt my heart.

Once we were back home I filled up Elle's water table.  This was her first time playing with it and she LOVED it!! She would pour water out and exclaim "uh oh!" then blame it on the "pup pup's" "MiMi" "MawMaw" and "PawPaw".  She's really into the blame game lately.

We've got a busy May ahead of us, but all fun things I'm looking forward to!