The Time of our Lives

Drawing with Chalk

2010-02-04T21:25:00.002-07:00

Growing up

2010-01-12T16:37:00.002-07:00

Christmas In Daytona

2010-01-05T15:03:00.009-07:00

For Christmas this year we went to warm and mostly sunny Daytona Beach, FL! For a Christmas present my wonderful mother in law flew us and all of Jakes brothers and wives/girlfriends down to Florida. I doesnt happen very often for all of us to get together and I dont think it has ever happened that we all have spent so much time together. It was soo much fun. Our hotel was right on the beach so of course, first day we went and took Nelle to play in the ocean dispite the wind and 68 degree weather. The water was FREEZING but once you actually got in it wasnt to bad. I think the reason being that you were mostly frozen. :) None the less it was awesome for Nelle to play in the sand on the beach and play in the shallow part of the ocean. Nana, Nelle, Gabe and Grant all built sand castles...kinda..it was more like sand blobs and sand holes but thats not the point. We only ended up at the beach 2 days of our 6 day vacation but luckly the 2nd day was a warm and sunny 75 degree ish day. That day at the beach you could actually bare to get in to the water and Jake and I went boogie boarding. Soo much fun even though I got pretty beat up. We went and explored Daytona Beach and found a Krystals burgers which I remember from being a kid and it was YUMMY..and we also came across a cuban sandwich shop only after asking like 5 cab drivers.

Then for Christmas day, we went to Seaworld in Orlando. It was a little sprinkly that day but it didnt bother us, less people and we still know how to have fun in the rain. We saw Shamu and a dolphin show, which Nelle LOVED! During the Shamu show she kept pointing and laughing saying "Shamu Shamu." She saw sharks and penguins and alligators and even pet a sting ray.

Really tho probley the best part of the trip was getting to watch Nelle and her cousin Gabe play together. Even at the day care I work at she doenst get along with kids like that. Anytime they were apart she would be asking where Gabe was and when they were together they were inseperable. They held hands when we went places and she copied him and then sometimes it would switch and he would copy her. It was just adorable. Overall, Great Christmas and we cant wait for the next vacation!!

Santa Run 2009

2009-12-11T16:34:00.004-07:00

Over Thanksgiving I planned to do my 1st 5K. Probley the best part of the whole thing was that my brother was gonna be visiting and wanted to do it with me. He ran the whole thing with me..even stayed by my side when I had to stop. We finished in at 30 minutes and 6 seconds!!! Not to shabby for my 1st 5k if I may say :) It was so much fun and so rewarding. Thank you everyone who was there to root us on!!

They had milk and cookie stops..of course Derrick is eating a cookie in this pic! LOL

Playing in the nose (or snow)

2009-11-24T16:08:00.002-07:00

Nelle's word for snow is nose..hince the title to to this post. The other night we got quite a bit snow so we bundled Nelle up in her winter clothes and let her run and play outside. She loved it!!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T15:53:00.004-07:00

This year for Halloween I decided to have all of us dress up with a greek theme. I was a greek goddess, Jake was Hercules and Nelle was our greek princess. Mimi Eldredge and I made her costume and it turned out perfect, she looked so cute! We went out trick or treating at 7 around our neighborhood. Nelle didn't quite understand until after we had hit a few houses but then it was like she was a pro. She knew to walk up to every door and knock then grab a piece of candy out of the bowl and put it in her bag. She is a little hustler tho. At some houses the people would drop a piece in her bag then she would reach up and take another one. She came home with enough candy to keep her on a sugar high for a year!

GRRRRR

2009-10-29T17:39:00.000-06:00

Fall Hiking

2009-10-29T17:29:00.005-06:00

Prodigy

2009-10-25T17:32:00.002-06:00

Nelle halloween costume

2009-10-25T12:57:00.001-06:00

This is a rough draft of Nelle's Halloween costume...

The carrot

2009-10-16T10:43:00.002-06:00

Silly girls

2009-10-16T10:39:00.002-06:00

Nelle's new winter outfit

2009-10-11T14:16:00.002-06:00

Playing with daddy

2009-10-05T10:22:00.002-06:00

Hiking

2009-09-27T18:58:00.002-06:00

Beautiful Girl

2009-09-27T18:55:00.002-06:00

Amusement park

2009-08-29T16:31:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago we took Nelle to the nearest amusement park with a big group of our friends. This was her first time riding any rides other than a ferris wheel at the park. It was a little on the ridiculous side because it cost us $21 just to get Nelle in and there really weren't many rides she could even ride. She was to short to ride any by herself and they didn't have many that a parent could ride with a child but she still rode 4 rides. I rode with her on her first kiddy roller coaster which was a lot of fun. I think she liked it cuz she started crying when we had to get off. Then Jake rode on a weird octopus thing that squirted water and she liked it till she got squirted with water. Then we went on a huge ferris wheel which she loved. She kept trying to climb out and then our friend Kimmy took her on a smaller ferris wheel which I was totally unaware of how fast it actually went. She got scared a little on that but was ok. It was a lot of fun and we cant wait till shes older and can ride more!

Zoo

2009-08-29T16:15:00.002-06:00

So I have really been slacking on my posts here so Im gonna update you. I cant even remember how long ago it was but we took Nelle to the zoo again. Its amazing how many more animals she saw and how much more fun she had vs just a few months ago when we took her. She really liked the monkeys and the bears. She knew exactly what a bear was, she was pointing at them saying "bear, bear."

Nelle's new found joy

2009-08-12T18:18:00.003-06:00

A week or so ago Nelle discovered that one of the cabinets containing all of our tupperware didn't have a child safety latch on it anymore. Needless to say, she has to completely empty this cabinet several times a day. As soon as I put it away she is right behind me taking it all out. I have discovered that this is one of the most irritating things in the world but I also realize that this is part of her development. Either way she keeps me having a full time job. LOL

Visit from Grandma

2009-08-11T18:10:00.004-06:00

Im a little behind on posting but a few weekends ago Grandma and Papa Grosse came to visit for Grandma's birthday. We went swimming which of course Nelle loved, like usual, but she was very quick to let us know when she was ready to go. She just went and stood by the gate. LOL Then Grandma and I went shopping around for a Wedding dress for me. We only had time to go to David's Bridal but apparently that was were I was meant to go. I tried on about 8 dresses and I found the one. Surprisingly enough it was the 1st one I tried on and man is it GORGEOUS! Anyways then later that night we all went out to eat and got some really great food then headed off to go bowling. Of course we all forgot our cameras so no pics were taken but we had a blast! It was midnight blowing with all the lights off and the cool colorful lights going and Nelle just thought that was awesome. She even helped bowl and although she didn't hit any pins she still was still in aww. It was a great visit and we cant wait to go bowling again..maybe that will have to be a tradition or something.

Oh and the bought Nelle one of the coolest toys I have ever seen..all of the levels on the wooden thing lift up and in each level are different shaped blocks. As you can imagine its VERY messy but she loves it!

A visit from NY

2009-07-31T15:58:00.003-06:00

All the family from NY came into town a few weeks ago, this "group" included Jakes brother; Michael and his wife Jenny and there 2 kids (Nelle's cousins, Grant and Gabe) and Jake's mom. Nelle and Grant and Gabe got lots of play time and it was just awesome to see them all interact. We also all went boating, which was Nelle and Gabe's first time boating. (Thats one for the baby book.. Nelle's very first time on a boat was with Gabe!) Nelle loved it! She just wanted to play in the water and she was a VERY good sport. She didn't have her 1st nap until about 5:15 pm! No fits or anything, we got very lucky with a such a good little girl. Then Nelle also got some much needed Nana time! Thanks so much for coming to visit and dont be shy!!!

Playing in the sprinkler

2009-07-26T22:16:00.002-06:00

For Nelle's birthday Papa and Mimi Eldredge bought her an Elmo mat that sprays water when you hook it up to the hose. We set it up for her today and she thought it was so fun except when it squirted her in the face. She had a blast!

The park

2009-07-15T15:27:00.003-06:00

Nelle really loves to go to the park so yesterday we took her. This time of the year all the play equipment is really hot so she cant climb up on any of it but she still loves going. She loves finding all the little stuff like pine cones and rocks and also watching all the kids play. I think she is still trying to figure out how to play with other kids so thats why she just watches them. This park trip was her first time on a tire swing tho and she did really good. She just hung on while daddy pushed her a little.

4th of July

2009-07-06T12:42:00.003-06:00

We took Nelle to the Sugarhouse firework show this year and Nelle LOVES fireworks!! We got there a couple hours early and let Nelle just be outside and play and she loved that. Then...the Fireworks started. She pretty much laughed the whole time. She was pointing and oohhing and ahhing. She made it the best firework show ever!

Ferris Wheel

2009-06-27T22:36:00.003-06:00

Last week we went to the park with our friend Park (weird) and his granddaughter, Bella. Nelle rode the ferris wheel for the first time and loved it. She said whee whee the whole time. It was cute. And I got to try out the whole 2 kids thing. Bella is 8 months and weighs the same as Nelle so it was quite difficult. Loved it tho.

I know she looks scared but she really did have fun. I think this was the first time around.

Fathers Day visit

2009-06-27T22:17:00.004-06:00

Im a little behind with my pics but for Fathers day weekend Papa and Mimi Alvarez came to visit. Nelle absolutely fell in love with Papa this trip and was all over him. He must have read to her 50 times. He was such a good sport! Both Papa and Mimi were lucky enough to get goodnight kisses from Nelle both nights which is quite huge. It was a great trip.. Thanks for coming.

Nelle giving Mimi kisses

Eldredge Family dinner

2009-06-22T10:23:00.003-06:00

Last night for Fathers day we went to the Eldredge Family dinner. Like always there was good food and good company. Of course Nelle was all over her Mimi and had a lot of fun. She loves her so much.

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-21T22:15:00.003-06:00

Happy Fathers day to all the Daddy's! To my wonderful Fiance' Jake, the BEST daddy to our little girl! I couldn't ask for anything more. To my daddy.. Thank you for everything, you are my hero! To lyle... Thank you for always being there for me. To Lloyd.. you have changed my life in more ways then you will ever know... your an inspiration to me and thank you for raising such a wonderful man. And to every other daddy, today is to you and how wonderful you are.

Nelle's "angry face"

2009-06-13T10:12:00.003-06:00

She started doing this face about a week ago so Jake and I decided to call it her "angry face." She breathes in and out of her nose really deep while making the face. Its just so cute.

Jakes 21st bday

2009-06-09T18:24:00.004-06:00

For Jakes 21st birthday I decided I wanted to take him to Vegas. Who doesn't want to spend their 21st in Vegas anyways? With the help of family this was actually possible. Papa and Mimi Eldredge were nice enough to watch Nelle and as far as I know she had a blast. They took her swimming and took her to Wheeler Farm and probley much more. We were there from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon and had so much fun. I didn't apparently put my thinking cap on when I decided it would be a good idea to wear heals out one night. We ended up walking from the Luxor to TI that night. Needless to say I now hate those heals! Jake won $150 from $10 on his birthday and the next night I won $80 from $5. Of course it all got spent because Vegas is just sooo expensive but it was fun anyways. Oddly enough some old friends from DRA were going to be in Vegas at the same time so we hung out with them quite a bit. We cant wait to go back!

The park

2009-05-30T14:39:00.004-06:00

One of Nelle's favorite places is the park. She loves the people, especially the little kids, and she loves the jungle jim thingys. We take her all the time and this peticular time we went and fed the ducks and got some really good pictures.

Nelle's favorite activity

2009-05-22T12:17:00.003-06:00

We have always read to Nelle a lot in the past but could get away with not for just one day. Now that's not an option at all. To be read to is by far her favorite thing. There is always story time before bed and then during the day she is constantly bringing you a book to read to her. She will go play in her room and 15 minutes later she will walk..yes I said walk!!...out to you with a book in hand. Then she proceeds to shove it at you till you read it to her. Then once you read it she wants you to read it again, and again.

Tracy Aviary again...

2009-05-19T18:10:00.003-06:00

Now that Nelle is a little older we decided to take her to Tracy Aviary again. Thankfully this time we had great sunny weather opposed to last time when it POURED! Nelle absolutely loved it. She pointed out almost every bird that she saw, even some we didn't think she would see. She is also walking all the time so she got to walk around the aviary which she was very proud about.

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-10T09:33:00.003-06:00

Happy Mothers Day means more than flowers and gifts. It means saying thank you and saying I love you. It means I truly appreciate you! To my mom, who is not only my mother but also my friend. You are the greatest and I thank you and love you for shaping me to be the best mom I can be. To my step-mom, Mel. You have always been there for me and I thank you. To my mother in law, Terrill. Jake would not be the man he is today if it wern't for you. I thank you for that and we love you. To Jakes step-mom, Paula. You have been such an inspirtation to me and because of you I am a better mom. And thank you for being such a great mimi to Nelle, that is is the best gift I will receive for mothers day! Finally, to all of the wonderful mothers...Today is your day!

The cutest pose ever

2009-05-09T18:33:00.003-06:00

The other day Jake and I decided to plant our garden. To avoid Nelle getting totally dirty when were outside I sometimes put her on a chair to sit. You would think she would just climb off and go play in the dirt but for whatever reason she doesn't. She just sits in the chair and climbs around. So this particular time she was just doing the cutest poses and I managed to get pictures!

Happy 1st Birthday Nelle!!!

2009-05-03T22:16:00.007-06:00

Yesterday, May 2nd was Nelle's 1st birthday! I know, I cant believe it either. Its crazy to me to think LAST year we were in the hospital with a new baby. So much has changed with her. Its just amazing how much babies learn in the first year. I just love watching her learn new things.

We decided for her 1st birthday we were gonna throw her a little party. The original plan was to have a BBQ out in our back yard. Well of course...it rained all day Saturday! It worked out tho, we just moved the party inside. We had to fully re-arrange our house. The couches were out on the front patio, the kitchen table and chairs were in our room, and various other things were piled where ever they would fit. There were 20 people crammed into our little house and we still managed to do the BBQ. Dad manned the BBQ and made great food as well as there was tons of other food. Nelle got lots of great toys and clothes, and she absolutely loved opening them all up. We also gave her a piece of birthday cake to smear all over her self and maybe eat. Surprisingly, she didn't get as much all over her self as I had thought she would. It was a great party and most importantly Nelle had fun! Thank you all so much for coming and celebrating Nelle's first birthday!

She's gettin close...

2009-04-26T14:40:00.002-06:00

Grass Tickles

2009-04-24T12:58:00.003-06:00

Nelle is not the biggest fan of grass. I think the reason being that I tickle her feet so much. Its really quite cute actually, but she will do just about anything she can to not put her feet into the grass.

Nelle

2009-04-20T16:33:00.002-06:00

The first picture was from last week when daddy had work off. We went fishing cuz it was such a nice day. Nelle had a ball and she even got touch her first fish that daddy caught.
She has started this new thing, its hard to explain but she basically just rolls around on the ground all over the place. This is her mid roll.
She loves putting hats and bowls on her head. They dont stay there for long but she still loves it.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T23:08:00.003-06:00

For Easter weekend Papa and Mimi Alvarez came to visit. They brought us some much needed appliances for our house and spent Nelle's first Easter with us. We bought Nelle a dollar store basket and some dollar store toys and some plastic eggs. We hid her basket (a family tradition of Jakes) and put eggs around the room for her. She got a little pre-occupied by the eggs so it took a while for her to find her basket but when she did she REALLY loved it. We also took her to the park to play later on, which she loves. Overall it was a good first Easter!

Oh the simple things in life

2009-04-10T13:18:00.003-06:00

We have always known that Nelle has enjoyed the simpler things rather than the extravagant things. Well here is one example. She played with this bowl for at least an hour after she ate half the popcorn that was in it (she ate half a bag of popcorn!!!). She absolutely loves popcorn...just like her daddy!

Tagged

2009-04-06T12:56:00.004-06:00

Alright so I have been tagged. Here is the 6th pictures in my 6th folder. Jake and I were buying new tires for the car a few months ago and during the wait we decided to go on a little walk.

Tag Mel, your it :)

Nelles first steps

2009-04-05T20:31:00.002-06:00

Somewhere to call home

2009-04-04T20:23:00.006-06:00

I have to say there is nothing quite like having a house to call home. Jake and I have done the apartment thing for quite some time now and finally decided to rent a house. Its not owning but its as close as we can get. Having a house is just different in a good way. Here is where we call home.The tv might be a little big for our living room, but its ok, its niceThe kitchen and dining room to the leftLooking to the living room from the kitchenThe kitchenOur bedroom...its a little small but it worksLooking to our backyard from the deck off our bedroomOff the deck of our bedroom the other wayNelle's roomNelle's roomThe bathroomGoing downstairs (Nelle has mastered the stairs and loves it!!!)Downstairs...this is daddys play roomDownstair bedroom..its our guest bedroom, its the best we can do but it does get quite cold.

Nelle and her rocking chair

2009-04-03T09:30:00.005-06:00

Nana bought Nelle this really cute rockin chair a while back and she was always pretty scared to sit in it. For a while she would hold on to it and push it around the room using it as a walker. It was so cute. But just the other day we look over at her and this is how she is...She loves to sit in it and you can see the look of accomplishment on her face everytime she gets in. This sitting in it thing has developed into something else though... A little scarry!!!

Cute little Nelle

2009-03-30T22:54:00.002-06:00

Playing in the dirt

2009-03-23T09:55:00.004-06:00

We have discovered that Nelle really loves to get dirty and play with rocks in the dirt. So since we found this out at our new house the other day, Nelle and I decided to tag along with Jake when he went shooting. She obviously wasn't shooting and I kept her at a very far distance but she had a blast.

Favorite

2009-03-18T14:17:00.001-06:00

My new favorite picture!!!

So busy

2009-03-16T11:39:00.003-06:00

This past week has been so busy for us. We found a house that we wanted to rent and luckly for us we got it after much anticipation. Its a really cute 2 bedroom 1 bath house. Its perfect for us!! So this past weekend we have been packing and moving. You would think living in an apartment you wouldn't accumulate as much crap but thats not the case with us. I have no idea where we got most of our stuff. We did get a lot of help though. Papa and Mimi from Colorado came out to help us and Papa and Mimi Eldredge helped and Uncle Drew helped. I don't think we could have done it without there help so thank you!! Nelle had a lot of fun playing with Papa and Mimi Alvarez and Papa Eldredge got some great pictures. They also came with us to Nelle's swim class and got to see us dunk her for the first time. She didn't seem to mind too bad. There will be more pictures to follow!!

Burger King

2009-03-08T16:54:00.002-06:00

We recently took Nelle into the Burger King play places. She absolutely loves them!! I have to go in with her, which Im not complaining about, and she follows me the whole way through.

Mimis in Heaven

2009-03-03T21:39:00.002-07:00

Tonight we went over to Papa and Mimi's house to visit since Mimi hasn't seen Nelle in a few weeks. We have been really busy trying to find somewhere new to live and haven't been able to show them the new things Nelle has learned. She will roll a a ball back and forth with you, If you ask her to touch her toes she will reach down and grab her toes, and if you ask her for a "dink" she will lightly hit her forehead to yours. Its so cute. And then she also has her 2nd tooth in!! Luckly she didn't really seem to notice this one either.

Laughing in pictures

2009-02-27T16:34:00.002-07:00

Daddy was playing with our dog, Tess and Nelle thought it was just hilarious!

Playtime

2009-02-27T12:48:00.002-07:00

We took Nelle over to our friends Park and Kim's house to play with their grand daughter, Bella a few days ago. Nelle found Bella to be very fascinating. Unfortunately she hasn't learned to share yet.

Look what I did

2009-02-24T20:39:00.003-07:00

This is Nelle's favorite activity. She pulls out the bottom 3 rows of the DVD's at least 3 times a day. Oh the joys of being a parent!

At the park

2009-02-21T13:38:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was such a nice day out we decided to get Nelle out of the house and take her to the park. She really loves being outside and she really liked playing on the platforms at the park. And of course she also enjoyed eating a wood chip off the ground!!

First tooth

2009-02-16T10:53:00.003-07:00

Nelle finally has her first tooth! Jake was feeling her gums on my birthday and sure enough there was a sharp little tooth in there on the bottom. There hasn't really been much of a change in her, really you wouldn't even no. We got lucky for this one, hopefully we get just as lucky with the rest.This is my hand at the whole photography thing

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T13:47:00.005-07:00

I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you. Happy Valentines day!

Happy Birthday... To Me!

2009-02-11T17:44:00.005-07:00

Today I turn 22 years old. By no stretch of the imagination am I old, however I keep thinking to myself, where did the time go? Especially this last year! So much has happened since my last birthday. And who would have thought 10 years ago I would be a mom to the cutest little baby ever. I guess I just got lucky. Especially so with Jake! He got me really a nice digital camera but the best thing I got was my gift from Nelle. Jake layed out a poster board and put paints down on it and let Nelle play in it. She splatted, and rubbed, and crawled all over it to make me the prettiest piece of art. It's priceless and gorgeous and is now hanging on the wall above the couch. (Jake did so good with this) Thanks to everyone for everything and Happy Birthday to me!

Just a few

2009-02-09T20:49:00.003-07:00

These were taken over at Papa and Mimi's house last night. She just has such a fun time over there.

9 Months

2009-02-05T13:54:00.003-07:00

A few days ago Nelle had her 9 month check up with Dr. Jed. She has gotten an inch and a half taller measuring in at 27 and half inches tall. She has lost 2 ounces putting her at 15 pounds which puts her in the 2nd percentile. She is tiny! He said that her weight is nothing to worry about though especially with the amount of food she eats. He also told us that we should start switching her from baby food to adult food now which should be a life saver with money. Her first "meal" was mac n cheese and hot dogs and she really seemed to like it. She is just growing up so fast.

Nelle's sleep over

2009-01-29T13:37:00.005-07:00

This past Saturday Nelle had her first sleep over. She stayed at Papa and Mimi Eldredge's house and from what we heard she had a blast and did very good. She went right to sleep and slept without a peep the whole night. I think she did better than I did! Thanks again!!

(This was taken a few days before the sleepover but i had to include it)

Daddys Girl

2009-01-21T15:29:00.002-07:00

Getting into trouble

2009-01-20T10:45:00.002-07:00

Since Nelle has started crawling it has been a constant battle to keep her out of things. Even with the house "baby proofed" she still seems to get into everything. I left her alone for a minute, came back and she was soaked along with the floor.

Costco

2009-01-15T20:03:00.002-07:00

We went with Papa Eldredge yesterday to Costco to stock up on diapers and wipes. He captured some GREAT pictures! (I love the first one!)

Visit to Colorado

2009-01-14T17:11:00.005-07:00

This past week we were out visiting my family in Colorado. This was the first time Nelle flew in a plane. She did amazing. Not a peep the whole flight, granite it was only an hour flight. It took her a few days to get use to everything and everyone but she still did really good. We also found her new favorite food...Cheerios! Thanks to everyone for everything.Nelle with my uncle Rob

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T16:39:00.008-07:00

Happy New Year everyone!! This past year has brought many joys to our lives. Of course the biggest being Nelle. She has grown up so fast. She first Laughed on June 13th 2008. That brought a new kind of joy to our lives, that sound is enough to brighten anyones day. She slept through the night in her crib on September 21st 2008. By this time I had pretty much forgotten what a full nights sleep felt like, it was such a relief. She also ate her very first food, rice cereal, on that day. She has hated rice cereal mush since the day she tried it. Now she is eating 2nd and 3rd foods and snacking on crackers and fruit. Then her biggest mile stone...crawling...December 14th 2008. Oh the days we could put her somewhere and she would still be there a second later. Here are a few of my favorite 2008 moments in our lives.

Roseola

2008-12-28T20:43:00.002-07:00

So we took Nelle to the Dr. the day after Christmas because she woke up with a fever of 104. He diagnosed her with a viral infection called Roseola. Evidently you only get this illness once when you are a infant and then your body builds up an immunity to it and you will never get it again. He gave us a timeline on how the illness will progress and so far he is spot on. In good news, her fever is gone and she is feeling much better!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T20:56:00.004-07:00

Unfortunately, for Nelle's first Christmas she was sick. But luckily she was surrounded by family to make her feel at least a little better. Christmas Eve she developed a fever and it still hasn't gone away. The poor girl is miserable. We started our Christmas at home at 4:30 in the morning when Nelle decided it was time to wake up (she was just burning up). A little later that morning I made breakfast and we opened only a few presents as Nelle was overwhelmed. We waited and then proceeded and opened more. Then we went to Papa and Mimi Eldredge's house and met up with the fam. We had a good little lunch and exchanged presents. I have to say my favorite part was singing messed up Christmas carols! Then it was off to Nana's for the last stop. By this time Nelle was TOTALLY miserable but still enjoyed Nana's presents as much as she could. Overall, Nelle's first Christmas could have gone better but we tried to make it the best we could with what we had to work with. Thank you to everyone for everything and Merry Christmas!

Baby Grant Eldredge

2008-12-23T12:24:00.002-07:00

I said pictures were to follow and I finally got some. He is just the cutest little thing. He weighed 8.5 pounds. I just love his chubby cheeks. Again, Congrats Michael, Jenny and Gabe!

Flu Shots

2008-12-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

Its official, we have all had our flu shots this year. Thanks Lloyd! I encourage all of you to get one.

New baby!!

2008-12-19T19:22:00.003-07:00

Congrats Jenny and Michael! They welcomed their new baby boy Grant this morning at 8:03 am. Nelle's new cousin. Im awaiting pictures and will post as soon as I get them but I am sure hes beautiful. Were so excited and cant wait to meet him.

Eldredge Family Christmas Party

2008-12-18T13:26:00.003-07:00

This past Sunday was the Eldredge family Christmas party. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for Nelle for wear her Christmas dress. It was a lot of fun, especially for Nelle. Jakes cousin Adam has a little girl who is about 18 months and Nelle found her very fascinating. So she found a friend and got a bag of presents from her Great grandma and grandpa. I think her favorite part of her present was the ribbon tying it together. (I just love how the simple things entertain her). Thank so much for the gifts!

Mama reading to Nelle

2008-12-16T17:28:00.002-07:00

Nelle meets Santa!

2008-12-16T17:23:00.002-07:00

We took Nelle to the mall to meet Santa a couple weeks ago. She absolutely HATED Santa! She was ok for a second and this was the best picture we could get in that second before she started crying.

Sledding

2008-12-15T10:47:00.002-07:00

This past weekend we had a snow storm so we decided to take Nelle sledding for her first time. (Don't worry it was really small hill) She had fun but I think it was a little to cold for her, just look at her nose.

Play by play

2008-12-15T10:40:00.004-07:00

Nelle has been army crawling for a while now and I got some pictures that kinda give you the idea of how shes doing it.
But army crawling is going out of style! It started yesterday, she is crawling now....

Happy Moving Girl

2008-12-09T21:30:00.003-07:00

Nelle has been getting very mobile lately. She is still just army crawling around but she is very good at it. She will be crawling in a couple weeks I bet. She gets into everything she can find and I find my self saying no an awful lot. She just turns and smiles of course. I guess its about time to box up everything in her reach.

Wil and Jess tie the knot

2008-12-07T20:55:00.002-07:00

This past Saturday, Jakes brother Wil got married to his beautiful girlfriend, Jess. It was a beautiful wedding and most of all a gorgeous bride. I hope more pictures are to follow but this is all I have for now, and its not even of the bride or groom! Congrats Wil and Jess!!

Nelle meets Gabe!!

2008-12-03T15:49:00.004-07:00

Today Nelle met her only cousin, Gabe for the first time. There is soon to be another cousin...(16 days), but till then this is her only one. We have been waiting for a long time for them to meet and she was quite taken with him. He gave her lots of loves and kisses and read her a book, it was so cute.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T20:46:00.003-07:00

For Nelle's first Thanksgiving we went to the Curtis Family Thanksgiving. Nelle had never met many of that side of the family but she did very good. There was a lot of good food and high spirits as always. Nelle's great grandpa Curtis played the piano (he plays amazing) and people sang and other people played the piano also. It was a lot fun but the day wasn't over yet. My mom came into town and when we got home I started cooking. I made Thanksgiving for my mom and step-dad which if I may say was fabulous. It was a busy day but overall I would say was a great first Thanksgiving for her.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-11-30T20:36:00.003-07:00

For this Thanksgiving weekend Grandma and Papa came to visit. Nelle had so much fun climbing back and forth across our laps, from me to Grandma then to Papa and back again. We went to Temple Square which Nelle loved because she got to people watch and Grandma and I set up our Christmas tree. Nelle was completely amazed by the tree! Thanks so much for coming and don't be strangers.

Army crawl

2008-11-30T20:27:00.003-07:00

Today Nelle was doing tummy time at Papa and Mimi Eldredge's house and she army chawled across the floor. It was slow moving but she actually moved and it was a considerable distance for her first time. She is never sitting still unless she is sleeping and I just know we will have quite a active baby on our hands when she learns to crawl.

Reading

2008-11-29T12:32:00.002-07:00

Nelle loves books! She goes nuts when you pull out a book and read to her. We have been reading to her every night and here I am reading her first Christmas book to her.

Sick Nelle

2008-11-21T15:21:00.002-07:00

This morning I woke up and Nelle felt like she was on fire so I took her temperature and turns out she had a fever of 103.3. I gave her some Tylenol and called the Dr. They said it sound like she just has a virus and that there is nothing we can really do but Tylenol and comfort. This is the first time our little baby has been sick and she just seems so miserable. She just wants to cuddle with mommy and go to sleep. We hope our poor girl gets feeling better soon although I will miss the cuddling.

Piano

2008-11-15T20:56:00.005-07:00

These pictures were from a while ago they were just stuck on my camera and I finally got them off. Nana is an amazing piano player and Jake talked her into playing for Nelle. It didn't take much to talk her into it and it was worth every word. Nelle loved it! She even tried to help play at one point.

At the Park

2008-11-15T20:44:00.005-07:00

These pictures were also from a while ago...same story. During the summer we took Nelle to the park all the time. This peticular time was the first time she sat up on her own. I think she was 4 1/2 months old. She also took a liking to to my leg that day, and Jesus...and herself.

Protest

2008-11-15T20:13:00.004-07:00

Joining in the fight for equality, Jake, Nelle and I took a stand and protested the passing of Prop 8 in California , Prop 2 in Florida, and Prop 102 in Arizona banning gay marriage. There was a rally last week and a nationwide protest today (well really worldwide). Nelle had a blast! She was getting ooh's and aaah's from everyone and she was loving it.

Blueberries

2008-11-11T12:51:00.003-07:00

Her eyes remind me of blueberries. She's just so gorgeous.

So close...

2008-11-11T12:48:00.003-07:00

Look..she's getting so close! Its not gonna be to long before she crawls!!

Visiters

2008-11-05T18:28:00.003-07:00

Papa and Mimi from Colorado came to visit this past weekend. Nelle seemed to take quite a liking to them. They were only here for a day and half but it was great seeing them. We all went out to dinner with Papa and Mimi Edredge and had a great time and they were kind enough to babysit Saturday night so that Jake and I could go out alone which was awesome. Thanks again and don't be strangers!

6 months

2008-11-05T18:09:00.003-07:00

Nelle is 6 months old now and growing up too fast. Today she saw snow for the first time! She had a Dr. apt also and had to get more shots, which is never fun. She weights 13.8 pounds (almost the same as last time) which is in the 10th percentile. He said that she looks healthy and she is eating enough and thats its probley just genetics. I wonder where she got that from?! She has gotten a little taller measuring at 26 inches. He was surprised at how fast she is developing and thinks that she will be crawling sooner than the average baby. She is so smart!

Picture Perfect

2008-11-03T19:56:00.002-07:00

Happy Halloween

2008-11-03T19:44:00.003-07:00

These are pictures from Halloween. Nelle's a 50's girl, Jake is a motocross racer, Drew is a Vietnam Marine , and I'm a cop.

I've been tagged!

2008-10-31T16:59:00.005-06:00

So I have been tagged, thanks Jenny! J/K i don't mind.

6 TV shows I like to watch:
1. Biggest Loser (my favorite)
2. House
3. Law and Order SVU
4. Hells Kitchen
5. Celebrity Rehab
6. Big Bang Theory (If U haven't watched this ever you should!)

6 Restaurants I like to eat at:
1. Subway
2. Rodizio Grill
3. Barbacoa
4. Cafe Rio
5. Primo's (Jake proposed to me here)
6.Chili's

6 things that happened today:
1. I blogged a lot
2. We all dressed up in Halloween costumes!
3. I cleaned the house cuz my dads coming
4. We went and saw Nana
5. We went to Tracy Aviary
6. Played Rockband

6 things I am looking forward to:
1. My dad visiting tomorrow
2. My mom coming to visit for Thanksgiving
3. Nelle going to the Dr.
4. Kelly coming to visit
5. Nelle talking
6. Papa taking pictures of Nelle

6 things on my wish list:
1. That Nelle will be happy
2.That Prop 8 in California doesn't get passed
3. A tea cup pomeranian
4. That we win at MC Donalds monopoly (anything)
5. A house
6. That we could live in Italy

6 people I Tag:
1. Mel
2. Laurel
3. Kelly
4. Annie
5. Barbara
6. ????

Peek-a-Boo!

2008-10-31T16:48:00.002-06:00

She was having so much fun with her pumpkin! And apparently she likes the taste of it.

Boo at the Zoo

2008-10-31T16:23:00.002-06:00

At the zoo every year they do what they call "boo at the zoo." Basically its just trick or treating at the zoo so we thought it would be fun to have Nelle dress up and take her. There were TONS of people there! I think Nelle was more fascinated with all the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes then she was by the few animals we actually saw.

Pix

2008-10-29T19:51:00.003-06:00

Perfect light, an extraordinary photographer and a ridiculously cute baby. Thats the combination it takes to get these pictures.

50's Girl

2008-10-29T19:31:00.003-06:00

The final product! This was at a chili cook off last week at Papa and Mimi Eldredge's church. It was themed around Halloween so Nelle got to wear her finished costume. It's awesome how much Mimi loves to show off Nelle! There was great food and its always fun to watch a a donut eating contest. Especially when Jake and Papa are in it! They didn't win but both did very well!
Just look how proud she is!

Nelles costume

2008-10-26T23:23:00.003-06:00

For Halloween this year we have decided to have Nelle be a 50's girl. I figured that instead of spending $40 for a Halloween costume that she will wear once, I would just make one. In thought, a poodle skirt, would be easy. Well think again. I got a pattern off the internet and got some help figuring it out and here is the result modeled by my bare chested girl (courtesy of a prune incident blowout that dirtied her outfit). I still have a bit of jazzing up to do but you get the idea.

Happy Halloween Pics

2008-10-26T23:06:00.004-06:00

Happy Halloween everyone. Papa Eldredge got some real great shots of Nelle in a pumpkin. She wasn't the happiest she has ever been as it was cold outside and I'm not sure she understood why she was wearing a pumpkin. It sure is cute though!