Thanksgiving

I have awesome siblings who were willing to drive for eternity to come visit us for Thanksgiving! Max drove 11.5 hours from Provo. Breezy did that plus an 8 hour shuttle from Rexburg to Provo where she met up with Max for the drive. I gladly accepted their sacrifice. I laugh so much when my siblings are around. 

Max bonding with his niece. He left on his mission shortly before Elliot was born, so this was his first "being an uncle to a baby" experience.

He likes her just a little bit

Elliot got Max to tell him hours worth of stories

I haven't had my Mom's Thanksgiving food since I left for college. I got all her recipes this year and  video called home several times for encouragement. Everything turned out fabulous! I had forgotten how magical her stuffing is. 

Breezy imparting the noble family tradition of surprise rolls to the next generation

The cinnamon sugar aspect of said noble tradition required some vacuuming 

Playing Hitlist while waiting for the turkey to be finished

The menu: bacon-cranberry-brie pastry pies, turkey draped in bacon, surprise rolls, sweet stuffing, savory stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Not shown are apple and french silk pies. Max provided fancy sodas.

What did Elliot eat? Cranberry sauce. 

After feasting, Breezy and Max were excited to absorb as much sunlight as possible before returning to places that actually have winters.

90 degrees in the backyard

Hanging out by the lake

Hanging out on a turtle statue

On Friday morning, we were planning to leave to go walk around the lake at 10 am. At 11:30, Max finally pokes his bleary-eyed head over the railing. When we ribbed him for sleeping in so long, his excuse was that a new game came to him fully formed in the night. Gripped by creative energies, he was not able to return to slumber until he created a mock up of the game. We played a few rounds while he smoothed out the rules a little bit. The basic premise is that each player is trying to figure out which Greek God is their father by completing quests. Clint suggested the working title "Who's Your Daddy." I am a fan all around. 

The master at work

Our Magnum Opus of Pizza Making

This beautiful piece of edible art was constructed of pastry sheet leftovers, chocolate chips, and whipped cream. 

We really do have so much to be thankful for. That is especially obvious to me at this time when we are bringing a sweet new child into our family. We have stable lives, emotional and physical health, extended family that we are close to, and so much more. We are truly blessed!

Baby Blessing

We blessed Annabelle in church on November 12. We were fortunate to have Mom and Dad Blood fly in from West Virginia and Mary's family drive down from Gilbert. Aaron gave Annie a beautiful blessing- and the microphone worked this time around so I could actually hear it!

I'm including all the extended family pictures, because all of them have different amusing kid faces.

The baby blessers. 

  

She's a beautiful little lady, and we are so blessed to have her in our family!

Annabelle at 1 Month

One Month Checkup Stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 13 oz 

Height: 22 inches

Annie really is a sweet baby. She's a great sleeper, usually only waking up twice per night. She tends to have two day cycles where she is more awake for a day and then only wakes up to eat the next day. She is oh so cuddly and has eyes that melt your heart when she looks up at you. We absolutely love having her in our family!

Blood Visit

We were able to have Mom and Dad Blood visit for a long weekend! We had a great time playing board games every night and teasing Mom about her chocolate consumption. 

On Friday, we drove up to Madera canyon for a picnic lunch in the mountains. 

Annabelle's first trip to the mountains! 

Hanging out in a neat hollowed out tree

Elliot heartily protested being torn away from the rocks and "water." The base of the waterfall was almost completely dry. 

The next morning we walked around the temple grounds, then hit up the miniatures museum. 

I'm a great photographer.

Mom got lost for an hour on the way home from the museum after she detoured to hit up See's Chocolates. We determined she must have found a break in the time-space continuum where I-10 West somehow became I-10 East or something like that. 

Mary and Mike rolled up right as we got home. Elliot had a great time with his cousins learning how to make potions in the back yard. They also befriended the neighbor kids, who were happy to have someone their age to talk to over the wall and climb trees with in the front yard.  

Elliot Video Montage

Google photos made this video montage of Elliot, and I absolutely love it. 

Mimi

My mom was able to come for 10 days to hang out with her favorite (ok, her only) grandkids!

So many books

So many snuggles

 We made a trip to the Children's Museum for the first time. Elliot loved it and was generally way too busy to let us photograph him. We'll be back for sure!

We tackled some ambitious projects with my mom there to help and make sure we didn't screw anything up. First up: Painting and decorating Elliot's big boy room.

We found 11 books under his bed. I love my little reader. 

The finished product

 We decided to replace the section of carpet near our garage door with vinyl. We come in and out of this door all the time, and the carpet was pretty trashed. This way, there is a carpet-free place to come in and take off our shoes. I was filled with many doubts about how good it would look and our ability to do it, but now that it is done I love it!

Tearing out the carpet

Elliot was frequently too helpful

This woman is amazing. She masterminded this whole project and did a ton of the physical work on it, despite having a foot that she couldn't put much weight on at all. My mom is the toughest person I know. 

Our other activities with mom included watching all of season 2 of Stranger Things, a fun visit from Susan Hekking, and of course a trip to Manuels. 

Annie's First 2 Weeks

Aaron got a glorious 3 weeks of paternity leave, which made the transition to having two kids much smoother. Elliot is a fan of his little sister. He likes to tell her about stuff and have her watch him build towers or practice his ninja moves. He doesn't seem to mind if she is soundly asleep while "watching" him. Elliot helps out by taking countless dirty diapers to the trashcan, rocking her in her seat, and providing her with blankets.

Elliot's first time holding Annabelle

He is good at reminding me about tummy time

Sibling bonding

Just precious

 We ventured up to a doctor in Tucson to get Annie's tongue clipped. The procedure was super fast, and it has healed quickly. She nurses better now. The doctor tried to convince me to get my rather tight tongue clipped as well. His main argument was that I would be able to truly lick an ice cream cone after the procedure. Apparently I've only been living half a life!

We made some non-doctor related trips as well.

Annie's first time at the park. She slept through all of it.

Cool big brother

 One Saturday, we went to the clubhouse to go on the kids train. It turns out that there was a big wellness fair going on with giant inflatables. We had a great time bouncing around with the Elliot. 

When did my son get so capable

Rocking the velcro suit

I am the epitome of grace

We ended that trip with a walk around the lake.

I love our neighborhood!

We hit up a birthday party for a 2 year old in the ward. It was fun having Aaron get a sneak peek into the fun parts of being a stay at home mom. He also took Elliot to story time at the library.