Party in the USA

Ben and I left our little babe for the first time. It was especially hard because she had pink eye. Thanks SO much Greg and Heather for watching her anyway. We dropped Eliza off and headed to the airport. We flew to LA and went and got our rental car. When we got there the lady said ok you can go pick out any convertible you want on aisle 2. I was so excited that we got to choose! We went outside and asked where aisle 2 was. Come to find out, we got the only convertible that had at the time. It was so much fun though. Besides jeeps, I had never been in a convertible.

We drove to our hotel and dropped off our things. It was a beautiful hotel. And there were a lot of "beautiful" women there too. I kept looking at all of these women thinking that I am definitely not a California girl and wondering if all California women are that blond and perky!

As we were leaving our hotel to go to dinner and Beauty and the Beast there were some people that I thought were cleaning the windows. Ben said look closer on our way out and take a picture. Come to find out there was a "golf" tournament at our hotel. The sign sure explained the women.

We got in the car and drove to dinner. It was fun being on the famous Santa Monica Boulevard. But, it was so busy. Stop and go traffic is not for us.

We drove right by the LA Temple. I love seeing temples in the midst of craziness.

We asked our concierge at the hotel a fun place to eat near the theater. We recommended Eva Longoria's restaurant Beso. The ambiance was amazing. The food was interesting and good. It was just fun being there. And, we were the first people in the restaurant so it wasn't too crazy. I guess LA night life doesn't start at 6 pm.

After dinner we walked down Hollywood Boulevard and got to see the Hollywood sign and some of the famous Hollywood stars.

The theater was just down the street from Beso. We saw Beauty and the Beast. I loved it and I think Ben didn't mind it either. It helped that we were so close to the front. I love being able to see the costumes so close. I love Beauty and the Beast and loved seeing the Broadway again.

After the play we drove back to the hotel and got a good nights rest for our next fun day!

Pink

Pink eye that is!!! E woke up with quite the icky eye. I usually wait these things out a bit but this looked pretty bad. I was hoping for just an infection or something. But as soon as the doctor saw her she said yep, that's pink eye. Even though her eye hurts and she isn't feeling well, Eliza is still so happy.  How did we ever get so blessed!

Shopping in Style

6 Months

Eliza at six months...
holds her legs up for you when changing her diaper
sits up by herself
sucks on her bottom lip and looks like a bird
can roll both ways
got her first haircut
is finding more voices including a very loud scream
can tell when she's smiling even from the back because of her chubby cheeks
stares at her hands
favorite book is beep beep sheep in a jeep
favorite songs are I am like a star shining brightly and I love to see the temple
loves to hear secrets in her ear
puts ear to sounds, especially whispers 
likes to find mommy's nose and eliza's nose
is intrigued with herself in the mirror
licks your mouth when you are eating
always playing with her feet
eats peas, broccoli, chicken, turkey, pears, sweet potatoes, avocados, squash, zucchini, carrots, blueberries, bananas, oh, and suckers thanks to daddy
scoots in circles and backwards
brings joy and peace to our hearts

"Whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children and you must hug your children and you must love your children. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens in your house."

Barbara Bush

Frozen

I do not have a green thumb. I have mowed the lawn once in my whole life and never planted anything that lived longer than a few days. But, about a month before we got married I planted tulips in our front yard. I kind of forgot about them until the spring when they came up and were beautiful. I went out to shovel the snow (I'm not proud to say for the first time since we've been married) and saw the sad sight of my tulips. I hope they survive this snowstorm.

Baby Einstein

I've done something I swore I would never do. Or I at least wouldn't do very often. I let Eliza watch TV. She was mesmerized. She loved the colors and sounds. It's Baby Einstein so it's educational right?!

Snuggling

Not the best picture in the world but I am so glad Ben got it. Eliza is not a snuggler. So after I burped her and she starting to fall asleep I just savored the moment. I savored it so much that apparently we ended up sleeping there for about an hour. I love my little E bug.

First Haircut

Eliza had a lovely headband of hair. We called it a party in the front and business in the back. Basically, she has a backwards mullet. I always said if my baby has weird hair I will cut it even if it makes me sad. Well, today was the day we cut it. We just trimmed the sides but she looks so different now!

It was hard enough cutting it let alone taking a picture...

Sitting Up

Eliza is pretty good at sitting up on her own. We feel like she learned that pretty quickly. When I'm not right next to her I put her boppy behind her. She still stumbles and our hardwood floors aren't very forgiving.

Even without the boppy she sits up for a pretty long time on her own. She loves being able to grab her toys and look around. She's getting so grown up!

And this is one of her many ways she gets down to her back or tummy...

Sucker

Ben loves to give Eliza things he shouldn't (or things I think he shouldn't!). Tonight during her bottle he slipped a sucker in her hand. Of course anything she can get in her mouth goes in her mouth, the sucker wasn't any different! She LOVED it. I let her suck on it for a few seconds then took it away. Luckily she still drank her bottle.