Pretty in Pink

So I (Nikki) went to the store to buy a little silkie (anyone know where I can find a plain one without a teddy head attached?)- and though I was unsuccessful at this, I happened upon something I couldn't pass up. Yes, it was a hot pink tutu. for my daughter who can't walk, much less dance. But I didn't care- it would make for superb pics. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought elastic, pink ribbon, and a big ole' pink flower, and made her headpiece. here is our first attempt at our homemade photo shoot in the entryway. (yes, we are very much in grad school...). We took at least 30 pics, most of which have been posted to our smugmug.

Here is my attempt at artsy. What do you think?

Saturday Eleanor had her first playdate with Chloe (born 8 days after her). We had a great picnic with our friends Elisabeth (my friend from work) and Cory.

On Mother's Day we went to Babie's 'R Us to pick up a few things before we left town and were offered free portraits of Elle if we agreed to let a trainee "practice" on her. (We are sure this is because she was the prettiest baby to enter the store that day...). After a heated "discussion" about the pros and cons (J: She's sleeping, I don't think she'll do well; I want to go home, N: we never do anything fun), I won and we gave it a go. She was perfect.

My best girls.

Eleanor is just so fun. Tonight, Nikki said, "She just gets more fun every single day." These smiles are just piercing. How are we ever going to be able to say no to this? Seriously.

Since we've been going out of town for the past 3 weekends, I've been posting pics from those trips. Last weekend, we were able to go see some of our dear friends down in League City, Brad and Meredith. Sometimes we joke that we will someday live next door to them. They may think this is a joke. I assure you it is not.

Bryce and Kim, also dear friends in League City.

Here are a few random pictures of smiles and such that I've been meaning to post for some time now, but am just now getting around to.

Weekend in Jacksonville

We got to go see Nikki's parents (Grandparent names are Honey and Pop) last weekend in Jacksonville, and Elle had a few firsts: first boat ride, first time touching the water (the water was too cold to get all the way in), and first kitchen-sink bath. Major moments. Here are a few pictures.

Though she is wearing a bikini, I assure you she is not a hoochie...

I wasn't too sure about this bikini. When she was born, I informed her that she would not be allowed to wear a bikini until approximately age 30. We made it almost 5 months. Don't let this fool you, though. I'm not one of these push-over fathers. When I make a rule, I mean to keep it. All other rules are still in effect, such as:

1. No boys. For several years.

2. No makeup. For several years.

3. No watching commercials. Ever. We will mute the TV or turn it off or something.

4. No becoming a vegetarian. That's wrong.

5. No watching of movies starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. That's wrong. And unfunny. And immoral.

I could go on, but I listed only the most crucial ones.

Well, her Grammy and Grandpa found her this bikini and a matching hat, so my rules were useless against their "Ahhhh, c'mon"s. Note to Grammy: In the future, if you show up at my house with a bag of makeup or a boy or a plate of organic vegetables or a copy of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," I will not let you in the house. You will immediately drive back to Houston.

Here are a few more pics of the Elle and our weekend in Houston. Enjoy.

Here's Eleanor with her great grandparents, Mimi and Papa.

Elle and Grandpa.

Eleanor and Uncle Brian.

Thank God we finally got to go see the Fraziers! Here's Elle with two potential suiters, Ben and Logan. Fight to the death, boys!

Love my Aunt Kellye.

Though this is not a flattering picture of Eleanor, I just love this picture of Big Ben.

Note: We also were grateful to be able to see Erin & Matt, Kristin & Russ, and Uncle Van. Unfortunately, pictures were not taken of these historic events.

for campbell, inspired by erin

For my very first post to this blog, here are the letters I made for Campbell's room. It was certainly a labor of love, and I have a newfound appreciation for Eleanor's letters made by Erin.

It's funny how much i love her already.

A few movies.

Decided to post a couple of short home movies that we have made of Eleanor. Each video is about 2 or 3 minutes long. Enjoy.

This first video was taken about a month ago, and it shows Eleanor anticipating kisses. We love this. We started coming in slowly for kisses, and before long, she knew the kisses were coming, and reacted accordingly.



This next one shows Eleanor standing up with her grandmother, who we call "Honey." She is advanced.



This next one was taken almost 6 weeks ago, and it was when Eleanor started talking herself to sleep. I would stand and rock her, preparing to lay her down. As we rocked, she would just start making these wonderful noises. Pay no attention to the ominous music in the background. It's supposed to be a womb noises CD, but it turned out to be some mixture of a horror movie soundtrack and Yanni music.



The last one was taken only yesterday, and she just started making this noise. It's kind of a cross between a laugh and a shriek of the mythical banshee.

Elle in a fly dress...

Not much to say on this post, just thought I'd post a few of the latest pics.

Kristin and Russ came into town last weekend, and Kristin took some family pics for us. Thanks, aunt KK.