The Last 2 Weeks in Pictures

It seems as if I've been slacking on the blog front. Sorry. It isn't because a lack of events going on in our lives. With friends coming to visit, going to VA for Thanksgiving and getting in the Christmas spirit, we've been keeping busy. Here is some proof of our recent happenings.

Our good friends the Abbass' were in town from Milwaukee and stopped by for lunch one afternoon. The boys had a blast playing together.

They also got to meet Eleanor for the first time who weighs more than their almost 2-year-old, Alex.

It was a lot of fun to catch up and we still wish they lived closer.

I've been getting crafty for Christmas.

Ethan helped decorate the Christmas tree and asks daily if he can play with his Batman ornament.

Eleanor has been helping redecorate the tree. Every day. The bottom of the tree is pretty sparse and we usually find the missing ornaments in every room except the family room.

We drove down to VA and spent a gorgeously warm Thanksgiving morning hanging out at Lake Anne plaza.

Ethan loved exploring.

Eleanor loved playing with the concrete structures that are meant for climbing on (not sure how that is a good idea).

We spent a bit of time relaxing.

We hung out with lots of family including Aunt Nat; though it seems that the kids were more interested in the iPhones than the company.

And this is what happens when you take technology away from a baby.

Spent some quality time with the cousins. The 2 cuties on the outside are 6 months apart. Man, they've changed since last year.

The best shot we could get of these 2 cousins who are only a few months apart in age. At least we'll get another chance at Christmas.

We did lots and lots of driving. The kids were great and even though they only took 20 minute naps in the car on a 11 hour trip (we made LOTS of stops at Ikea, Costco, Chipotle, McDonalds, and Target), they managed to not drive us nuts and we're more than happy to make the trip again in a little over 3 weeks for Christmas!

Family Time

It seems that time has just been slipping away recently. I can't believe that next week will be Thanksgiving and then before you know it Christmas, and then hopefully the rest of winter will just zoom on by and we can get right on to spring! Wishful thinking I guess.

Well since our last post we've been hanging around enjoying the mild and unseasonably warm fall weather. It really has been wonderful. It's made raking and blowing leaves a lot less painful when it's warm enough to just wear a shirt and not bundle up. As I type, the leaves are falling again from the huge tree in our backyard covering up any trace of my attempts to rake earlier. Oh well, it's another warm day so I'll probably be shoving the kids out the door to play while I rake so that they can live up what may be one of the last warm days of the year.




Also in the last few weeks, Eleanor has learned to walk. She's no pro or anything, but she has slowly been getting used to standing up on her own and walking to wherever she needs to go in a Frankenstein-esque manner. It's really cute. She also is now facing forward in her car seat and is loving the new view that she gets to experience with her brother.

This last weekend we were able to get a weekend visit from my childhood best friend, Lindsey. She was at an advertising conference in NYC and made a stop-over in Rochester on her way back to San Francisco. She did the same thing last year right after Eleanor was born, and it's made it really fun to be able to see her at least once a year rather than every few years. We hung out with the kids, went for a walk, a couple drives, went to the playground, had a girls night out and went shopping and out to eat... it was great. I'm glad the weather was beautiful and didn't deter her from coming back in the future. The kids already miss her so it looks like we'll need to plan a trip out to San Fran to see her.







Lastly, we finally took the pictures that we bid on at our ward's Boy Scout auction back in March. My friend Jeannette (who I recently went to NYC with) was the talented photographer who captured the following images. It was another perfect fall day and we took these pictures by some old barns in Pittsford on the Erie Canal. I'm glad we got a plethora of good pictures to choose from. I was worried that Eleanor would be totally crazy and Ethan would think the camera was stealing his soul (sometimes he does that with cameras and refuses to look at them). I can't wait to get them printed and hang them around our house!












And although we didn't order the following picture (hope you don't mind, Jeannette), I found it remarkably similar to the picture of me and Ethan that was on the cover of the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester's newspaper) back in June of '08. My little guy is so grown up!

Happy Birthday, Eleanor!

Yesterday we celebrated Eleanor's first birthday, and it was fantastic! We started off in the morning with giving her a sippy cup of whole milk which she seemed to like before throwing it on the floor. I think it was more for fun than her being disgusted with it. Then it was time to host preschool at our house where we had 10 kids come over (a little more than usual, but everyone was well behaved). After learning about her primary colors, Eleanor went down for a short nap and when she woke up we hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Mudrick a little before Ben came home early from work. Next up we went to Chipotle for a late lunch and then off to Wegmans to buy a birthday cake and ice cream. When we came home we lounged for a bit, opened up her gifts and invited over our neighbors for cake and ice cream. After FaceTiming with Grandma and Grandpa Bruford, Eleanor was sung to and she devoured her birthday cake. Then after a quick clean-up we headed out to trick-or-treat with our neighbors as well. One trip around the block and we were home in time to prepare and feast on spaghetti with sausage, peppers, and onions and then it was bath time and finally bedtime for the birthday girl. She was pooped, but overall seemed to have a great birthday!

Trying to teach her to say she's one.

Testing out her new presents.

Singing Happy Birthday to Eleanor. We were FaceTiming, filming and taking pictures at the same time. It's a 21st century birthday after all.

She stuffed her face with cake as if she knew exactly what to do with it.

This handful went directly in her mouth after this shot.

Mmmmm! So good!

Now time to go Trick or Treating!

Cutest little garden gnome I've ever seen.

Birthday dinner!

I'm so glad we were able to spend Eleanor's birthday with Ben's parents. Though Eleanor isn't the friendliest of babies (she gets a little weary of people other than us), I think by the end she was happy to have her grandparents around. She showed off all of her tricks and showed them how silly she can be. She is a crack up. We are so lucky to have Eleanor in our family and since she is pretty different from her brother in many aspects, it's nice to have different personalities around the house. She definitely adds some spice to our family. Ok, and some sugar too. Happy Birthday to our Halloween baby girl! Here are some flashbacks of her over the last year.

After 20 minutes of pushing, Eleanor came out; broken collarbone and all: 1 minute old.

We just happened to have a Halloween beanie for her to sport right after she was born: 2 hours old.

Our chunky 9 lbs. 2 oz. lady being held by Grandma: 12 hours old.

Photo shoot with Aunt Rebecca: 4 weeks old.

Sitting in her swing: 2 months old.

Hanging out in her room: 3 months old.

Passport photos: 4 months old.

In front of the Eiffel Tower: 5.5 months old.

Hanging out on Mom and Dad's bed: 6.5 months

Bathtime: 7 months old

First 4th of July at Stony Brook: 8 months old.

On our trip to New Hampshire: 9 months old.

Eating spaghetti like a pro: 10 months old.

So serious during snack time: 11 months old.

Drawing (or eating the chalk) with her brother: almost 12 months old.