4 Month Elephant Pictures...

Today was our 4 month elephant photo shoot. Ironically, as I began I remembered that she wore this same dress for her 3 month pics. And, ironically, that was the last time she wore the dress. Ah well. I think you all know that she does have 'a few' other clothes that she wears... :)

So here is the progression as I took the photos:

Tongue out...

Insert hand...

Eloise has started to coo & babble a lot lately. It's so adorable. She likes to chat with me after she's eaten. Then she crams both of her hands into her mouth & chews on them for a while - just for good measure. She loves reading books, taking naps with Mommy, riding around in the Baby Bjorn, playing on her play-mat & doesn't even mind riding in the car anymore. She's pure joy...

Just For Fun...

Self portrait from yesterday:

Auntie Laura with us at the park on Wednesday:

Sweet Baby...

Here are some pics from the last few weeks...

Mama & baby - matching (I really didn't plan this...promise!)

Eloise is loving her play mat these days. Yesterday she played for 20 minutes, talking to the sunshine mirror most of the time - adorable:

In her PJ's ready for bed:

For The Love Of...

Tu-tu's. That's right - Eloise has her first Tu-tu & OH MY is it cute!?!! Here are a few more pics from Laura's birthday extravaganza with Ella in her 'party dress'...

Auntie (aka: birthday girl) with Ella (aka: party ready):

Licking her blanket. Do you notice anything new?? Look closely... :)

And just because I can't get enough of it, here's another pic of her adorable little tu-tu. I think tomorrow may be 'Tu-tu Thursday'. What do you think?

Laura's Birthday

On Sunday Laura had her 29th birthday! So...Saturday evening Mark threw her a birthday party. We went up for it & had a wonderful time with them & their friends. It was a wine tasting party & also included lots of yummy appetizers thanks to Mark & Tim. Happy birthday my darling sister - I hope this is your best year yet!!

Us with the birthday girl...

The wine on pretty display (no, we didn't drink it all) :)

The food table...

Eloise & her Daddy at home tonight - so sweet...

Mid July Pics...

On Thursday Eloise will go in for her 4 month appointment!! 4 months! Crazy...Here are some pictures of her from the last 2 weeks.

The flowers behind her were given to me from Tim for our anniversary!

Us at our 5th year anniversary dinner...

Laura's birthday party...

Eloise loves to read books!

The Bumbo & The Fist...

These days Eloise is making lots of progress in the discovery of her hands. The first thing she does in the morning when she wakes up is stare at her fist. When I went to get her this morning, I found her talking to it. So sweet. The following pictures were taken yesterday, while we were playing with the Bumbo that Grammy gave her for a baby shower. She loves to sit in the Bumbo & stare at the wonder the rest of us take for granted. Tonight she even started to grab & hold onto toys. We shall play with them more tomorrow...

It's SOoooo pretty!!

And it gets closer...

and closer...

And a smile of achievement. Oh my goodness, she melts me every time...

This is IT!!!

Spoiler alert: Jim, don't look at the picture - you'll ruin the surprise of seeing Nicole in her wedding dress!!

On Saturday, Nicole, Bethie, Eloise & I went wedding dress shopping for Nicole & Jim's upcoming wedding. We went to three different wedding boutiques in search of the perfect dress for Miss Nicole. Thankfully at the second store, we found the perfect dress for Nicole. What's not to like about this dress??!!? It's purple, has LOTS of lace, beads, silk flowers, satin, & flair. You name, it this dress has it. And for a non-saucy girl like Nicole, this dress says it all...

AHhhhhhh! Just kidding. This dress was SO over the top that we had to get a pic of her in it & be a little snarky with it. Thankfully the sales girl agreed with us & wasn't offended by our complete mockery of this creation. The search does continue, but she did in fact find several very beautiful options, this one however, did not make the cut.

Eloise Talking

Eloise Talking, originally uploaded by dickieadams.

I believe she explains it all in the video. If we had only known sooner!

Happy 4th of July

Ahhh the tongue:

It's like Visa: it's everywhere she wants to be:

I just don't know where she learned it from... :)

Monday/Tuesday

On Monday & Tuesday, Auntie Laura & the girlies came to visit. Auntie Laura was having withdraws because we had been in Idaho & hadn't seen her for 2 weeks. I didn't think she would ever stop kissing my baby...

Mia-Bia:

3 Months...

3 MONTHS!! Wow! She is growing so quickly & changing so much - it's amazing. Some things that she is doing at 3 months:

Sleeping 9+ hours a night (can I get an AMEN?)
Sucking her thumb
Fake coughing
Smiling
Cooing
Trying to laugh
LOVES her tongue. It's always out. Did I say always? Yep...always out.
Loves her mama (doesn't always care to be held by others)
Loves her swing
Is finding her hands & staring at them
Loves her baths - cries when you take her out

Here is Ella's elephant picture for 3 months.

While we were in ID, she found her hands & her thumb. She can now stick her right thumb straight into her mouth - adorable.

Are these not the cutest little shoes & feet you've ever seen?

The Last of...

...the Idaho pictures (for now anyway).

Here is a picture of Abby kissing Ella's feet. Abby is Richard & Faith's neighbor girl - so sweet. (Hi Amy!) :)

Ella in her new monkey shirt (I l.o.v.e. this shirt!):

Ella poolside: