Christmas Recap Part 2?

[Editor's note: the reason why there weren't any pictures between the first and second shot below is: Eloise was napping! Tough to have cute baby shots when the baby just isn't in the frame. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...]

Oh goodness...I knew I wasn't being good at taking photos on Christmas Day, but only two more to share, really? Yikes. The scrapper inside of me is upset right now. Ah well, it doesn't diminish the memories we had at Christmas, just makes this blog post a little less interesting. :)

We had a wonderful breakfast & dinner at Bill & Martha's house before heading back home for a relaxing evening. The day after Christmas, Laura & the girls came over & we headed to the mall. Yikes. The day after Christmas shopping with a baby = a stressed out mama. We lasted 2 1/2 hours, then I called it quits. We enjoyed visiting with my parents for the next 2 days before taking them back up to Vancouver to spend the remainder of their time at Mark & Laura's house. We are heading over there tomorrow to hang out for a little while before mom & dad fly out Wednesday.

Lesson learned from Christmas #1 - take more photos next year! Duly noted...

Here is the best gift I've ever received:

Playing with her new rings (thank you Auntie Andrea) & Melia's pillow pet. :)

Christmas Recap Part 1:

What a wonderful Christmas we had!! My parents came from ID to join us & then have spent several days after with us. We are so blessed by having our families come to visit. Thank you Mom & Dad for coming! We spent part of Christmas Eve at Mark & Laura's house, hanging out & chatting - then we made the trek (with parents in tow) back to Salem. We had a yummy dinner catered by the Wild Pear for Christmas Eve dinner, then it was off to church for our Candlelight service. It was a beautiful service & I'm sure that I would have gotten more out of it, but my little sweet pea decided that when people sing, she must join in...so we spent a lot of time at the back of the church (because the 'singing' continued even after they stopped). :)

When we got home after service, Eloise was exhausted, so she went to bed & we opened a few presents. I was spoiled rotten this year by family & friends. Thank you all for the wonderful gifts - reminders of how precious all of you are to me/us!!

Christmas morning Eloise woke up & it was time for her 1st ever stocking! She even helped open presents - I think she preferred ripping the paper over the actual gift. Ah well.

Opening stockings:

After presents were opened, we packed up for the day & headed to Corvallis to spend the day with my sister & her in-laws. We had a wonderful/relaxing/lovely day with them. Eloise arrived in style with her candy cane hat (thank you Phil & Melinda!). (Please ignore me in this photo - this was before hair/make-up). :)

I will post more photos & the rest of the recap soon.

Eloise This Week

Just when I thought she couldn't get any cuter - she goes & proves me wrong. :) Here are a few pics of Eloise from this past week:

Enjoying bath time:

Making silly faces - she does this all day long these days!! Cracks me up:

Waving for the camera:

All dressed up for church: (Yes, she's holding a q-tip box, I give it to her when I change her diaper so she will hold still. This time, she took it with her for her photo op - it was her prop of choice). :)

Christmas Cookies!

Last week Eloise & I went to visit Auntie Cole at her house. It was the first time Eloise had been to her house & we had a wonderful time! We made Christmas cookies, helped decorate her house for Christmas, chatted, & enjoyed our evening. Thanks Auntie Cole for having us over!!

Fancy cookies that we made - I can't remember the name of them, but Nicole can tell you...I'd never had them before either & they were delish! Thanks again Nicole for expanding our cookie knowledge & for a fun evening! xoxo

Christmas Wreath

I went to my good friend Debbie's surprise birthday party on Tuesday afternoon & took this cupcake wreath. I was happy with how it turned out & thought I'd share. Eloise & I had a wonderful time at the party - we got to visit with school friends that we rarely see these days & that was so fun. Eloise was great about being passed from person to person & was one of the hits of the party. And, Debbie was surprised, so it was perfect!

P.S. The cupcakes were yummy if I do say so myself. :D

Christmas Decorations

Here are a few pictures of our festive home right now. It was dark when I took the photos, but I had the chance to take photos now, so I ceased the opportunity...even with dimly lit photos, I think you'll get the idea. :)

Entryway table

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...

Fireplace mantle:

Newest stocking this year :), new bubble lights, & new Christmas banner!! Such fun!

Cousins

A week and a half later...I'm back with more beach pictures. :) Grammy Faith made each grandchild an adorable fleece hat - the boys all matched & Miss Ella-Roo matched an ear warmer that she made for me. I love her hat - she wears it almost everywhere we go. Here is a photo of all of Richard & Faith's grandkids, lined up in birth order the last day at the beach:

Elijah, Silas, Eloise, Moses:

Eloise wanting her toy back from Silas:

Oops...these pictures are in reverse order - Silas started with the toy, Moses fell over - Eloise noticed Silas had the toy & went for it - Eloise reclaimed the toy (with a little help from Auntie Kim).

Thanksmas

That's right...Thanksmas. This year, we spent 'Thanksgiving' with Tim's side of our family. We rented a beach house & enjoyed a wonderful week spending time together. We decided that we would celebrate Christmas while everyone was all together, so we called our holiday ' Thanksmas'. We have coined a new tradition in the Adams family...we think we will celebrate this grand holiday again next year (plus Jeff & I were SUPER excited to open presents a month early - how great is that??). :) And don't worry - it's very different from Festivus.

Richard passing out presents for Thanksmas:

Daddy helping Eloise open her presents:

Her 'new best friend' as Auntie Kim calls it - her sit & play from Papa & Grandma Faith:

The adorable hat Faith made her:

More pictures coming soon!

8 Months (1 week late)...

Little Miss Eloise is now 8 months & 1 1/2 weeks old. :) We took her elephant pictures this past week in her horsey outfit that Grandma Gail got for her. Since the October elephant attack - she insists on eating this poor innocent creature. Good thing he's resilient.

This month Eloise is:

Rolling & rolling & squirming to get to where she wants to be
Eating all kinds of different foods. We even introduced meat last week
Babbling & exploring her voice constantly - never a dull moment
Moving, moving, & more moving
She loves the new sit & play table that Papa & Grandma Faith got for her for Thanksmas - she will sit & play with it for 30 minutes a time
She repositions herself at night - sometimes 90 degrees from where I put her, sometimes 180. :)
She sits up & plays by herself very well - I can even leave the room for a moment without causing disruption
Sleeps from 6:30pm-8:30am - with 3 naps a day
Is the light of our lives...

Hey Grandma, Look at me!

Eloise raspberry, originally uploaded by dickieadams.

This Week's Update...

We've had several great days in a row this week where we stayed in our pj's WAY past standard pj time, we've read lots of books, played with lots of toys, eaten great food, & actually enjoyed tummy time! Woo-hoo! This week, Eloise also decided to roll multiple times - I put her in the middle of the blanket on the living room floor & within 5 minutes, she was at the step to the entry way! Go Ella go. Here are some pics from our week:

Curly locks after bath time:

Tim dressed her for Kindermusik class this week - here's what she wore:
(She got rave reviews at class for her attire).

Tryin' on Daddy's hat. Not too sure about this one...

What's For Dinner?

Tonight Eloise had left over peas, pears, & we introduced her to squash. She thought it was delish as you will soon see in the pictures. The first picture however, was taken last night. She has decided that the new lovie is just the best & sleeps every night like this:

At first I was worried, but if I go move it off of her face, she just puts it right back. Eventually through the night, she moves it to her side. I love how she loves to snuggle!

Now on to dinner:

She is able to now pick up the puffs and put them in her mouth! She still spits them out, but she eats them sooner or later. :)

Daddy feeding her squash: (She likes to help & as you will see in the next photo, she's very helpful....).

Mmmm! Dinner was gggoooooddd!

Eloise This week

This week Eloise & I have had a nice quiet week at home. We've played with Amanda & Miss Sophia several times, gone on walks, taken naps, spent lots of time on our tummy and in mama's arms, read books, played with Auntie Laura, Nellie, & Mia, & today we went to MOPS. It's been a good week.

Eloise decided a week and a half ago to babble saying 'da da da'. I've also caught her saying 'ma ma ma' !! She's sitting up, drinking from a sippy cup (sort of), & enjoying every day. Here are a few photos taken this past week:

Daddy 'wrestling' with Eloise:

All dressed up ready to visit Mommy's friends at school:

Bath time!:

Sitting up all by herself: