Trip to PA

Last week Hylie, Eliana, and I went to visit family in Pennsylvania.  Geoff stayed home for work and experienced the 'creepy quiet' that happens when all the girls are gone.

Dad drove out to Chicago to work on a few things around the house and then the three of us jumped in his car and headed back to Pittsburgh.  The girls were so well behaved in the car, but I must admit I was worried what the trip was going to be like when 30 minutes into the drive Hylie stated, "Hylie all done with the car."  Umm, not for quite a while, kid!  Thankfully Dean and Andrea let us borrow their portable DVD player and it helped pass the time for Hylie.

It was wonderful being with everyone in PA and for Eliana to meet more family!

Grandma was a pro at getting giggles out of Eliana

 Hylie had no problem inhaling all of Grandma's wonderful cooking!  She even whipped up homemade pierogies and apple strudel while we were there.  Yum!

Thanks for the wonderful visit!  Looking forward to the next time we get to see you!

Puddle Jumping

Even though Hylie is soaked to the bone and freezing, we usually have to drag her back inside the house.

Eliana is usually quite the trooper and tags along while Hylie splashes away.

The deeper the puddle, the better!

Eliana at 3 Months

Eliana's personality continues to blossom and we love learning more and more about her.

Recently, she has been an expert 'spitter-upper' and a 'blow-out' queen.  She eats like a champ, but nothing stays in!  We are going through burp cloths like there is no tomorrow--I had to make some more because I was not keeping up with the laundry!  And I can't remember the last time we made it through a day without a diaper blow-out.  Eliana, of course, waits until I put her in a cute outfit to have her daily explosion--today she did it during Hylie's music class, and yesterday she did it right after we got to church.  Thank goodness for Oxi-Clean!

She is still our little snorter.  Ever since birth her nose hasn't truly 'cleared' out.  It's improving--she is usually able to breathe out both nostrils without a problem, but when she's waking we'll hear cute little snorts coming from her room letting us know she's up and ready to eat.

Yesterday we enjoyed hearing a long series of giggles and snorts (thanks to some tickling) which melted our hearts.

Eliana is proving to be a little social butterfly.  Sometimes I have to put her in her crib so I can tend to Hylie--she's definitely not a fan of this.  She'll squawk and cry until I return, and once she sees someone is there to retrieve her, a huge grin spreads across her face and she's a happy clam once again.  When I'm working in the kitchen I sometimes have to put her in her swing and as long as she can see someone, she'll stay content for quite a while.  At night when she wakes up to eat, I'll go in and pick her up, but instead of eating right away, many times she'll talk and coo for a few minutes which makes getting up totally worth it.

How we love our Eliana!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a few 'sweet' happenings this year for Valentine's Day.

Hylie was invited to a little Valentine's gathering and made some fun butterflies for the occasion:





The morning of the party, I did a quick photo shoot of these two cute girls.  One thing is for sure, I'm surrounded by love!

Geoff and I got to go out for breakfast the morning of Valentine's Day so we could attend our Stake Conference meetings later that evening.  It was a wonderful treat!

Just a few things around our home to celebrate the holiday:



Geoff and Hylie worked together and made little notes and hid them in different spots--each note, including a nice card from Geoff made me smile!



Unfortunately, I never remembered to take a picture of Geoff and I this entire weekend, so in order to post a pic of my favorite valentine, I have to use a year-old picture---he hasn't changed a bit!  :)  Love you, Geoff!  Happy Valentine's Day!

February 2015 Blizzard

Last weekend we got quite a bit of snow--14 inches in about 24 hours!  It came late Saturday night and throughout the day on Sunday making it necessary to cancel church.

Geoff went out a few times on Sunday to shovel, but by the time all the snow and wind had settled down by Monday morning, it was hard to tell that any previous attempts at shoveling were made!

Geoff was able to stay home on Monday and between the two of us, we got all the snow cleared off the walks and driveway in about 3 hours.

Hylie was anxious to get out and play!

Hylie even helped shovel for a little while!

 When it snows, you're able to get a better idea of some of the animal activities that happen right outside the house.  If you look closely, you see a bunny en route across the yard...but was intercepted.

It's times like these that you're really grateful for warm homes and strong roofs.

2 Months

Eliana continues to be a growing girl!  At her check-up today she weighed in at 13 lbs. 5 oz. and is 23 3/4" tall.

She will tease you with smiles every once in a while and even "coo" when you're lucky, but mostly she just keeps her pretty eyes busy as she looks around at the comings and goings around her.  Her neck is getting stronger, but she's still not a fan of 'tummy time'.

These past two nights Eliana slept for 5 hour stretches and even went to bed before midnight!  I know better than to think this could be on-going, but it sure is nice when it happens!

I couldn't get Eliana to smile in any of these pics, but hopefully more smiles will be captured in the near future.  How we love this little girl!

Check out this cute outfit, complete with ruffled bell-bottoms!  Ha ha!

"Techie"

Geoff's company has an annual gathering each January where they sometimes include a "Film Festival".  Geoff was invited to participate in a music video set to Pharrell Williams "Happy".  Geoff started the show, so you only have to watch the first 20 seconds to see the best part of the video!

When the film was debuted at the conference, Geoff was also awarded "Best Dancer with a Hat"!  Congrats, Geoff!