13 Weeks Old!

Today Eliana is 13 weeks old! That is 91 days!




Eliana's neck is getting stronger! She can sit up with help!


We found out that she can stand up too!


I was SO excited the day I found out she could stand for more than a second. We've been working on it for weeks!


I was trying so hard the day I took this picture to get her to smile for Aunt Marcie, but her window of smiles had closed. I was so excited about this outfit matching perfectly with the quilt Aunt Marcie made!

A few things I've learned in the last 13 weeks:

*5 hours of sleep in a row is a beautiful thing!

*I wish I would have seen Happiest Baby on the Block before Eliana was born. It really has helped Kyle and I to soothe our little one. You can probably check it out at your local library!

*Bran buds on yogurt is one of my new favorite snacks.

*Eliana made it through BSF without a major crying sence! I'll tell you, I was SO nervous about taking her to Bible study. We got there 30 minutes early because I know she is happiest in the car right after eating. It was worth it to me to have a happy baby during the car trip rather than a screaming baby! I also knew she should be falling asleep right about the time we would sing our hymns. I worked diligently to soothe her to sleep before, and it worked! She stayed asleep during discuss time and part way through the lecture. Once she woke up, I knew I had about 1 minute or so before the I'm starving scream would begin. We quickly headed out to the foyer and found two other mommies with their wee ones. I was so blessed to see them!

*Eliana has changed our lives. I've learned that I need to do my Bible study while she is eating or while she is napping. God could be scooted to the side if I'm not careful. The days I forget or put off my quiet time are days of trouble.

*A speaker at a mom's group shared that the best thing you can do for your children is to love your husband. I'll tell you that it was quite convicting that day, as I reflected on how easy it is to put Eliana above God and Kyle. Eliana cries and demands attention. Kyle and God don't, but they need my devotion too.

Windows of Time

Eliana has very small windows of time in which she will gladly take pictures. Today's post is an example of post happy window time.


This is the look of "Are you kidding me? I'm so not going to smile right now." This morning while Eliana napped I switched out the newborn clothes and added the 3 month clothes. I love this dress that our friend Allison got for us. I loved it so much I was willing to try and see if Eliana would take a nice photo.

This is Eliana informing me that she wasn't kidding about nap time being around the corner.


My response was to swaddle her and give her the pacifier she so loves. I highly recommend Happiest Baby on the Block to all soon to be or new parents. Those 30 minutes were SO worth the lack of crying we now have. You might be able to check it out of the library! Eliana is still fussy, don't get me wrong, but not as fussy as she was!


After a few moments of rocking back and forth, she was out!


For whatever reason, she only slept for half an hour :( SO, here are some pictures I took after the cat nap.

What We've Been Up To

Here is a view of the flowers Kyle got me for my birthday!


Growing up I got used to eating my mom's amazing meatballs. I've always been intimidated to make them since she doesn't use a recipe. She just know how much of everything should go in. So, after Kyle froze 5 pounds of ground beef altogether, I had to think of something! These turned out to be quite good! I also made a meatloaf and enchiladas.


We got to see Aimee, Troy, and Kallie last weekend in a middle point between out cities! Yeah!


I love how Eliana focuses on people now!


Eliana overall doesn't care for hats. Plus, her Uncle Troy thought she looked like a hood in this shot anyway.


Kyle was on a roll the day he took this shot. She was all about the smiles!




Eliana will be 12 weeks old tomorrow! I can't believe how fast time is flying by.

Sequoia National Park

Yesterday we went on our first family day trip! I'll be honest. I was rather nervous about taking Eliana. She often screams in the car soon after getting in. She often does not stop until soothed after we arrive at our destination. So, let's just say I was very close to talking myself out of the trip the night before we left. Kyle came to the rescue by suggesting we borrow a super cool stroller and baby harness from some friends. We have a stroller and a sling, but the thought of having these two items from our friends was enough to get me going.


Kyle was a huge help! His smile isn't a pose, it is a reaction to the noises that came from our daughter!


I was impressed at what Kyle found!


Just so you know, the trail is paved, and that is nice. It has SEVERAL places where there are steps. That made things a little complicated, but Eliana didn't fuss!


Here is the one spot the Kyle went "off roading" in order to avoid a few of the stairs.


Lichen is just fun!


This was Eliana's reaction to the vast majority of our hike! YEAH!


Talk about GIANT!



That tiny person is me!




In the background is the General Sherman. It has more wood than any other tree and is thought to be 2,200 years old! Imagine, it was just a small tree when Jesus walked the earth.





This stroller ROCKS! It is way easy to guide and it is very light weight. That made all of those stair much more doable.


We got up to 7,000 feet! The view is amazing from that elevation. Don't forget, you can double click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Saturday Morning

Eliana did an amazing thing. She went to bed around 10 pm and woke up at 5 am! If you've never been a parent, you may not quite grasp how amazing this is! Sadly, I realized near 10:30 pm that I hadn't had a lot of water that day, so I drank around 32 ounces. So, even though Eliana was asleep, I woke up at 2:30. :S It was nice though to wake up for only a couple of minutes compared to being up for an hour.

We are losing daylight. Has anyone noticed this!!! It makes me sad, but oh how I love fall. So, I guess it is sort of, kind of worth it.

Since I had pretty good sleep for a mother of a 2 month old, I ate breakfast and did my quiet time in Amos and Colossians. I was in the need to do stuff while I could. Eliana sleeps longest and best in the morning. So with laundry going, the dishwasher going, and a fresh and clean me, I headed outdoors. I was so grateful that it was still cool at 8 this morning. For those of you worried, Kyle was home sleeping. I moved the sleeping Eliana into our room so that he would hear her. I did wake him up to say he was on daddy duty, otherwise he can sleep right through her cries.

Here are a few of the things I found near our home.

Fall is coming!!! I LOVE when the leaves change.


Doesn't this remind you of a cow's skull in the desert?


I was SO excited to find these flowers on the way.


Okay, I know the image is blurry, but check out the bug in mid flight!!!!!!!


Aren't the lines on this palm branch interesting?

Ten Weeks Old

Ten weeks is a long time. It is a quarter at my school in Bakersfield. It is a quarter of a pregnancy. It is over half of a semester of college. It is 70 days, 1680 hours, and 100,800 seconds!!!


I was reading about tummy time. Apparently Eliana really isn't a fan!


Eliana's grip is getting quite good. Kyle has yelped many times as she has pinched him!


Eliana's eyes are so nice and dark like her Nanny's and Aunt Tara's.


I absolutely love this grin! I had tried to put on some newborn pjs and realized they were too small!!! It is so exciting to see her getting bigger! These pjs happened to be a bit big, but they protected me from getting pinched!


Eliana is "talking" now. She makes a short noise and then waits for you to reply with a short noise. We "talked" for quite a while (10 minutes is a long time in baby time) yesterday.