Moving right along

OH what a fun few weeks we have had!! We got to go to Calvin, Mabel and Richards birthday! McKenzie rented out an awesome little Bounce House Spot! HOLY HANNAH it was so much fun!! It was basically a huge bounce house that had an obstacle course and a 17 foot racing slide! Which was a huge hit among the adults. Little kids were telling us to stop it and don't bounce so high! I KNOW LITTLE KIDS WERE SAYING THIS!! We first had some awesome pizza and my favorite SHEET CAKE, then went and jumped off all of those calories!




I was obviously having a grand time if you can't tell by my grin! Haha little Elleanor was with Aunt Carol who graciously volunteered to hold Elleanor while I went off and played. I was lucky because I seriously had so much fun. Ashley and Cam made it down for the birthday too which was so awesome because I miss Ashley living with us, she made things so much fun, and was an amazing cook!

That was Monday and the rest of the week was pretty lack luster haha! Poor Paul was incredibly sick and had to stay home most of the week. I don't know what he had but it was not good stuff and Ella and I were lucky that we didn't get it. Let me tell you I am scared of when I get sick for the first time having a baby. You don't get the day off to stay in bed, there is a little person waiting for you anyways haha! Paul finally started to feel better by the weekend which was a good thing because it was St Patty's Day! Which was so awesome, my amazing sister in law made us Corn Beef and Cabbage with green bread and awesome party hats. We also had a birthday cake for Ms Mabel who turned ONE! Omg I can't believe she is that old already! She is so special to me I think because I have known her since she was born and ohh boy I can't believe she is getting so big!







Dinner was delicious and so much fun! After we had our dinner we got to see sweet May eat her birthday cake which was so awesome to see. She loved her birthday cake and was so happy to have it all to herself. It makes me excited to see Elleanor turn one. Which I am not ready for by any means but it makes me excited!



After watching that sweet baby eat cake and after she got a bath all of the adults decided it was time to have a dance party. OMG the kinect dance party thing HOLY HANNAH SOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!! We got to boggy! I burned off all the cake calories lol it was a dance battle to the death! I challenged Cam who I knew in college to a dance off. It was a bad idea, he hasn't lost any of his skills and wiped the floor with me. I thought I had retained some of my skills but it looks like I need a refresher course. It was a great time! That night Paul and I decided to take the night off and go see a movie. Paul's dad is an awesome grandpa and came over after she feel asleep. Paul and I got to go see a movie and had a great time! I can't wait to use grandpa over and over again because it was kind of nice to get out without pulling out a carseat with me! Haha we saw 21 jumpstreet and holy moly I LAUGHED SOOOOOOOOOO HARD! It was a pretty fantastic movie, and a great date night! Well thats about it for today its been raining all week and I am ready for sun! Anyone able to send some my way?

Hawaii and 3 months!

Holy Moly so much has been going on and I have been a terrible blogger of course what else is new! To start us off today I am remembering what has happened in this whirlwind of events. First off Elleanor and I jet set off to Hawaii! I know what you are thinking weren't we just in Las Vegas? I know poor Paul he is always left behind. Ella and I went to Hawaii for my Mom and Nana's annual pilgrimage to Maui! It was an amazing trip to be invited too! Ashley was there too which was so awesome. We did so many fun and exciting things, LIKE whale watching where we actually saw whales come right up to our boat so close that Ashley could have touched a whale if she reached over the side. Valentines day was awesome although we did miss daddy, we had an outfit on that dad picked out.We spent that day running around Lahina and enjoying the sun as well as a much needed beach day haha. Later in the week Mom, Ashley and I went paddle boarding which was so awesome! We had a turn Hawaiian as our teacher and he was so amazing we were able to see a real in the wild Sea Turtle he swam right between us and if I had laid down on my board I could have been friends with him. There was a lot of walking all over Hawaii which my dear sweet baby adored she was either in just a onesie or her adorable swimsuit!

She loved the sun and the warm weather almost as much as I did. Her Mimi spoiled her rotten she got her pearls and had her try amazing things such as snowcones and sugar cane cola! She loved both.
There was a lot of bonding going on during our girls only trip. Elleanor was able to get very close to her GREAT GRANDMOTHER. Which was really cool because how many people get to do that. We got to spend time at the beach every day which was much needed to see the sun! And we even had a cute mama whale with her baby whale right out in front of our hotel teaching the sweet baby how to JUMP OUT OF THE WATER!!! It was really cool! Because my mom and nana go there every year we were able to go to so many cool places including the north shore to watch awesome surfers and wind surfers it was pretty awesome! We got to go to an authentic lula which was beyond cool little Elleanor loved the dancing and the music it was really cool and the food was the bomb! Ella had the cutest outfit ever she was in a little green romper! to die for! Ashley and I loved the Lula because they had all these awesome drinks that they made in nonalcoholic forms so we could have all the fun drink without any of the silliness!

We had such and amazing trip between the sunsets and the shorts it was awesome! The best part was having the 4 generations together.




Elleanor was an awesome flyer and she was the happiest little bug the whole time on the flight she was smily and happy the whole time and she didn't cry at all! All the people on the plane were so sweet and couldn't believe that she did so well on the plane! I know my baby is amazing!


We had a great trip and it was so much fun to be with auntie and my mama......I never realized how much I missed/needed my MOMMY until I became one! It was so nice to be with everyone every day in the SUN haha! ohh the sun how I miss it! After 8 sun filled days we had to head back to rainy Seattle...but we both really missed daddy so it was a bitter sweet thing. Ella rocked it out on the plane again she is a stellar flyer she loves to travel already! After Hawaii tings got back to normal and we feel into our regular schedule. Elleanor is an awesome baby this is where I brag: She sleeps through the night, loves to ride in the car, has the best time in her bath, loves to shop, and does nothing wrong EVER! HAHA I hope she stays this way forever lol! Although I doubt things will stay this awesome!

Elleanor LOOOOOVES Dexter, and boy does Dexter love Elleanor. Not only does he love to kiss her and smell her, he checks on her when she is napping. It is the cutest little thing ever. He goes into her room when she is napping hops up and puts his feet on her crib so he can look in to make sure she is ok! I love it I think its so sweet that he knows she is a little baby and needs extra love!


My sweet baby is 3 months old and I have no idea where the time has gone. I swear just yesterday I was taking her home from the hospital and I was so scared because I had no idea what to do with her. Now she is holding herself up....her whole body not just the head! She rolled over, or so I think she was on her back when I put her down, I looked away for one second looked back at her and she was on her tummy! It is still unconfirmed if she did it on her own or if Dexter pushed her onto her stomach.



She is so beautiful and I can't believe how much I love this little girl she IS the light of my life and I can't believe how lucky I am that I was trusted with her.I love being a mom it has been the best job that I have ever had. Even though most of my days are filled with doing laundry, washing dishes, and vaccuming the house I have never been more happy because when that little girl looks up at me and smiles when she wakes up from her nap I know I would rather be here then anywhere else. Yep I am sappy and I became one of those people, and I am more ok with it then I ever thought possible. I am a mother.

Elleanor's Blessing

My sweet little lady got blessed this last Sunday. It was such a beautiful weekend. It was so nice because my parents came up and we got to spend time with them which is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. They brought up my grandparents as well which was fun to see them. There was a lot of prep work that had to happen before I could have all of Paul's family over to our house. It took a grip of people to finally whip it into shape! Shout out to mom dad and my sweet sister in law McKenzie! I will have to take pictures of the finally product of the house! We finally have furniture and things are put away and it feels like a home. Any way so we had a great weekend with my family. We took Elleanor to the Zoo! It was a beautiful day in Tacoma the sun was out and it wasn't too chilly! Elleanor slept through the whole Zoo and woke up when we put her into the car which just cracked me up because who doesn't want to be awake at the zoo! I was ok with it though because we got to see everything without a melt down haha! The weekend flew by and before I knew it we were getting Elleanor into her Blessing dress. Her dress pulls at my heart strings because it was made out of my wedding dress material. My Aunt Jen made my wedding dress 3 years ago when Paul and I got married and my sweet Aunt kept the material. When I got pregnant and we found out it was a girl my Aunt Jen made the most beautiful wedding dress out of the left over material. It was so special to see my little girl in something so beautiful for such a huge day in her life, that reminded me of one of the best days of my life. Church was early and all of Paul's family came to support us. Paul gave the most beautiful blessing and I know from it that Heavenly Father blessed me with a sweet spirit with a mission. I am so Thankful for the gospel and that she was able to get these great blessing and promises. I am so thankful for family and all the support that Paul and I have near and far. I never realized how blessed I was until we had our sweet baby.

3 Days to 3 Weeks

I started my New Year in Las Vegas so I could see my older sister Ashley get married to the love of her life Cameron. Ella and I fly down to Vegas the day before to surprise the whole family! We were only planing on staying for the weekend, because I thought I had to get home. The wedding was awesome, the sun was great, and my family was AMAZING! Saturday rolled around way to fast and flew by with the wedding and the reception.

The next thing I knew it was late on Saturday night and I was talking to my mom about leaving. She said "now Rachel why would you leave after just 3 days ask Paul if you can stay longer!' She was right because I was there and I didn't have a job to go home too. I called Paul and asked him if I could stay a little longer. He said that was a great idea because he would be working swing sifts as well as night while we took down a huge freeway in Washington. PERFECTION! Elleanor and I were going to stay longer and my parents couldn't have been more thrilled!
My parents soaked up every minute having Elleanor with them. It was so great to see them with her because she is the 1st grand baby and she is pretty friggen awesome. We had a great time during the week sleeping and playing with all of my friends, and of course enjoying the sun. I had started calling Ella the Vampire Baby because they first time she saw the SUN was when we walked off the plane in Las Vegas! Haha insane I know but we do live in Seattle. Ella and I were able to go to wedding receptions of girls I used to babysit which made me feel REALLY old and think they were way to young to be getting married when it turns out they were actually my age when I got married! Insane! Elleanor got to go every where and where ever we went people stopped me to just look at her. Which is awesome to have people tell you how beautiful your child is haha makes me feel great.

I mean look at that face!! Anyway every Saturday for 3 weeks Paul told me he was working another week of nights and to stay in Vegas a little longer....which we more then happy to do. Just to stay in the sun a little longer.

We loved Vegas but we knew we had to come back. It was a great trip but Elleanor and I had been gone to long, and finslly made it back 23 days later haha!

One Month Mommy

My sweet baby turned a month old on Friday and I am yet again shocked at how fast time has gone. My sweet baby is changing so much every day all I want to do is tell her to slow down so I can enjoy every possible moment. Our New Year started off pretty eventful. My older sister Ashley was getting married to her sweet husband Cameron New Years Eve and I wasn't planning on being there. Paul and I had, had tickets but we weren't sure how Elleanor would do and I wasn't convinced I could fly with her. Any way 2 days before Ashley's wedding after I had put Elleanor to bed I knew I wanted to be there. So Paul being the sweetest husband ever let me buy a ticket and leave for Vegas the next morning. I have no idea what I was afraid of Elleanor was a better flyer then I was she passed right out in her carseat! I even gave her the window seat! Landed safely in Vegas, Cam and his dad came and picked me up so we could keep it a surprise for my family that I had come down for the wedding. I walked in the door and everyone flipped out it was so fun to be home again! The wedding was fantastic Ashley was beautiful and it was so nice to see her with someone she truly loved and truly made her happy! I was planning on going back that Sunday, but my parents were like hey you are down here why would you leave??? UHH good question it's not like there was a whole lot going on at home. Paul is on a big job with the company tearing down a highway and working nights and well into the morning. He told me to stay because he wouldn't be much help anyway and that way I could spend more time with my family! It was a great idea, my little baby had never seen the sun before because since her birth there hasn't been any sun in Washington. I needed to show my little vampire what the sun was. She isn't a fan! Haha, any way its been a great two weeks enjoying family, friends, and fun!
Back to what my post was orientally about. I have been a mother now for over a month and I couldn't be in awe and how much better my life is with my sweet little girl. I have learned so much! Some of those things include
*poop IS AWESOME
*sleep is overrated
*little hands and feet are the best thing ever
*i am ok being used for food
*nursing is my favorite time of the day and I am so happy it happens so many times a day
*bath time is more fun then ever
*i dont' mind diaper duty
*i can spend hours just watching a single person
*i am the happiest i have ever been
*i love my husband more then ever
I thought I would never be one of those mothers who only talked about her baby and how great she was, but boy was I wrong. My life could not be better in any sort of way. I am totally and completely in love!