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.

Sunday

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa Hodgkinson's.

Grandma was the lucky one Eliza snuggled with tonight.

ariZona

Every once in awhile Ben has to travel for work. I have never been with him until this time. And Eliza got to come too. It was crazy flying and traveling with a baby. It was a good learning experience for future traveling. Eliza had a lot of firsts on this trip. We had lots of fun!

Eliza's first trip to the airport was exciting. She looked around at everything. She is so curious. She did great on the flight down. She only cried for a few minutes then fell asleep for part of it. The rest of the time she was just jabbering away. Myself on the other hand didn't do too great on the plane. I started feeling sick before we even boarded. The poor guy next to me had to deal with a crying baby and a throwing up adult. He was so nice about all of it. I even heard him after the flight telling another passenger that Eliza was such a good baby and that she only cried for a few minutes. That made me happy.

Our hotel was amazing. We stayed at the JW Marriott in Phoenix. The hotel itself was beautiful. The pools and land surrounding it was even more amazing. Eliza and I spent our time taking walks and playing in the sun.

It was so fun seeing Eliza take in all of the new things. The waterfalls and pools were one some of her favorites.

There was a big area of grass with chairs to hang out on. Eliza and I sat on the grass and watched the ducks. She loved it. I think it was the longest tummy time she had ever had.

Tummy time ended though when this duck kept getting closer and closer to us. It ended up about two feet from us. I snatched Eliza up and we relocated. I don't think duck germs is a good idea for a baby....

I have never had such spring fever in my life as I have had since having Eliza. I can't wait to be able to be outside and play on the grass all the time! Look at those toes...can you blame me?!

Swimming for the first time was hilarious. Eliza loves her baths so I thought she would love the water. She didn't not love the water necessarily. She really didn't show any emotion either way. Eliza in a swimsuit makes me excited for summer too. I wish my chubby legs looked as cute as hers did in a swimsuit!

Our hotel was so accommodating. They brought us in a fridge for Eliza's food and a lovely crib for her to sleep in. I felt like I was putting her in a jailhouse every time I put her down for a nap or to bed. She would hold on to both sides and look around like what is going on! It was really nice though to have somewhere for her to sleep. The funny thing is not only was she in the jailhouse crib, but she slept in the bathroom. She sleeps much better when it is quiet so we put her in the bathroom so we could shut the door. I kind of felt bad about that too but when she slept through the night both nights, I didn't feel so bad.

If you know Eliza you know she doesn't take a binky. We have tried, trust me. We decided to bring one just in case. Crazy girl was crying so I thought I'd try it. She put that thing in her mouth and sucked away until she was asleep. I thought oh great now she takes a binky when I would have tried to start weening her from it. I told Ben it's only for emergencies. On the flight home she started getting fussy so I gave her the binky. And like she usually is with a binky, she played with it for a minute then spit it out. I guess I won't have to ween her off of it after all.

Eating sweet potatoes in the hotel. She's a messy eater.

If you know me, you know I love cupcakes. I love to make them and eat them. When I found out there was a Sprinkles in the area I made it very clear I wanted to go there. Which we did. And I loved every second of it.

The sign says Beverly Hills because the Sprinkles in Beverly Hills was the first cupcake shop of its kind to open anywhere. Oh how I would love to have a cupcake shop someday...

And our last stop before we head home was to visit Great Grandma Hodgkinson. Ben's grandma lives in Mesa in a cute little condo. Not only does she have a hot tub and a sports court right in her backyard, she has THE MOST AMAZING FRUIT TREES EVER!!! We had fresh squeezed orange juice that you can't even imagine. We got to take home a few lemons, grapefruits, and oranges. Had we thought about it we would have brought an extra suitcase to fill with fruit. We would have gladly paid extra for an extra bag. It was so fun to see Grandma Hodgkinson again. We were able to spend a little bit of time with her at her home then we took her to lunch. Eliza sure loved her. We sure love her too!

On the way home Eliza loved looking out the window. She was happy the whole flight home until she poked herself with an airline brochure. As soon as we hit land she stared out the window the rest of the time. It was adorable.

We had such a fun time. I am so glad we were able to join Ben. As much fun as we had, it was so nice to get home. Eliza was so happy to be in her own crib in her own room. There is no place like home.