Christmas in Montana

Merry Christmas - albeit a little late.  We've been so busy and full of holiday cheer that I've put off adding any new pictures or posts.  Now I'm incredibly behind but will slowly start uploading some new photos.

Before leaving for Montana, we tried to savor as much holiday cheer in Phoenix as we could.  We visited Santa in Kierland.  This is a great Santa - he has a village, and fake snowfall, and Ms. Claus dancing with the children.  Elayna enjoyed all of that up until it was her turn with Santa.  She refused to sit with him and even cried sitting on Aaron's lap.  It was a valid attempt but this is the best photo we got.

We left for Montana on Thursday the 17th.  The trip started off badly when my Grandma cracked her hip Friday morning.  She is doing better than expected - no hospitalization, no surgery - but is staying with my aunt in Bozeman so we saw less of her than we had hoped for. 

The snow as also disappointing but we made the most of it.  Elayna warmed up to sledding and quickly learned to walk in the snow boots.  She was adorable in her coat and hat!

We had a great Christmas with lots of friends and relatives.  Santa brought Elayna a rocking horse and she LOVED it.  She called 'horsey' whenever she wanted to play and was a natural rider. 

We flew home yesterday, Sunday the 27th after 10 days on the ranch.  Elayna had her first official experience as a passenger with her own seat (due to a hellacious flight to Mt) and was AMAZING.  We are happy to be home in our own beds and settling back into our routines.  It was a wonderful Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We've had a very exciting Thanksgiving here in Phoenix with Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Carol.  They arrived from Oklahoma on Wednesday and we've enjoyed several days of playing in the park, watching football and of course EATING!!

We started Thanksgiving morning with a friendly neighborhood football game in the park.  This is the first year Aaron's been here to play and we loved enjoying some time with our neighbors.  I didn't cook a big meal this year, so we munched most of the day with Aunt Alicia.  And in the evening we went bowling - and Elayna loved it!!

A few fun pics:

Watching da-da play football!

Cheers, Grandpa!!

Elayna learning how to bowl!  She did such a great job and loved the different colored balls.  It was really fun!

Hiking at Cave Creek Rec Area

Zoo

We had a great day on Saturday -- Elayna's first trip to the Phoenix Zoo!  Here are a few pictures!

Elayna's favorite by far were the orangutans!  She made the monkey call and stared at them for 15-20 minutes.  It was very cute.

Halloween Photos

Our poor home computer is slowing giving up...  It has taken me a while to load pictures up of our fun Halloween.

We live in a split household -- Aaron's family attended the University of Oklahoma and Aaron is a big fan of their team.  My mom is a Texas Longhorn and my cousin Michael is a sophomore there. Therefore, no matter what university Elayna supports, we are doomed for some friendly family conflict....

So for Halloween, Elayna was a SOONER CHEERLEADER.

I love Halloween in our neighborhood -- its a rare opportunity to enjoy time with our neighbors.  Aaron took Elayna trick-or-treating to a few houses around the block and she understood the concept almost immediately.  Elayna is very clever and loves candy!

We also visited our church's fall festival later in the evening.  The petting zoo was a little scary but she enjoyed the slide at the playground.  It was a fun night for her and we love to see her so full of joy.

Happy Halloween!!

New Pictures

Elayna's 18-month photos are available on our photographer's website!  We took the pictures outside on an abnormally hot Saturday and Elayna was not in a good mood.  Nevertheless, the pictures turned out great thanks to our fabulous photographer, Amy Lee.  I am very pleased!!

To view:  www.amyleephotography.com

user id:  ckellum

password:  elayna

Additionally, we also have Elayna's school photos back.  Yes, her daycare takes school photos.  And yes, I call it 'school'.  Although I didn't buy any, I still think the pictures are cute....

This is her class - there are usually more than 4 kids - it must have been a slow day.  The little boy on the left is her boyfriend, Pete.

Fall Camping

Happy Birthday Aaron!!

To celebrate, we spent this weekend camping near Prescott.  Lynx Lake is about an hour from Phoenix, and the campground was awash with fall colors!  It was beautiful and the entire family enjoyed spending a weekend outdoors.

The only downside was the morning temperature.  We woke up both mornings to 40' temps - much too cold for our little Phoenician baby.  Elayna was a good sport but she was not in the mood to sit by the fire or snuggle in the tent; we spent both mornings huddled in the car with the  heater and Shrek on the DVD player. 

Huddled by the fire to stay warm...  this is shortly before seeking sanctuary in the car.

Fall colors on our walk!

Hiking with Dad - such a big girl!!

A favorite toddler past-time:  throwing rocks in the lake!!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Allyson!

Today is Allyson, Aaron's sister's birthday!  I hope she is having a great day in her new apartment in New York.

In lieu of spending the day with her, here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Ok, this might be funnier of their dad, Jerry!  Who doesn't love a good mustache!

In Montana in 2005 (or maybe 2006?)

Poor Elayna ... she's about 2 months

Elayna's in a much better mood with Allyson in Montana last August.

What we’ve been up to….

October is a busy month and I know I've missed a lot of highlights:  my sister's birthday, Elayna's 18-month check-up, the return of 100-degree weather.  I'll try to get caught up as best I can.

First, Happy Birthday Alicia!!  We had dinner with the family and her boyfriend Justin and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Elayna is now 18-months old.  She's happy, healthy, and active!  Her new favorite things include play-dough and climbing EVERYTHING.  What a crazy little monkey!

Her 18-month checkup with the pediatrician went really well.  She is 33 inches now and 95th percentile for height, 25 pounds and 75th percentile for weight.  She's meeting all her milestones and clever and inquisitive.

Today we went downtown for her 18-month pictures with Amy Lee - who has photographed Elayna since she was 1-month old.  It was a hot day and Elayna was not in the best mood so I'm hopeful we got some good shots anyway. 

Afterwards we went across the street to the Phoenix Children's Museum.   This was a blast - they have a lot of hands-on exhibits perfect for young toddlers and Elayna played hard for several hours.  Loved it!!

Tour of Scottsdale

Viva Fall!!  We love October in Phoenix.  The temperature has finally cooled off and we celebrate by spending a lot of time outdoors.  This weekend was one of our favorite events:  the Tour of Scottsdale.  Aaron has rode the 70-mile bike race for the last several years and competed again this year.  He rode the entire race in under 4 hours!

Sunday morning Aaron left early.  Elayna and I attempted to meet him at the finish line (although we missed each other for most of the morning).  It is a large event with vendors and a band and a lot of families.  Elayna loved the people watching although she wouldn't sit still in her stroller for long.  I loved playing with my new camera ....

The photo below was taken with my dad's ultra-wide angle 15mm lens and a slow shutterspeed.  I then experimented with the colors in photoshop for this cool 3-layer effect.

Our Little Picasso

Elayna learns new things or grasps a new concept every day.  We have tried these bathtub crayons several times and she 'kind of' gets it.  Usually she enjoys watching my demonstration and then tries to clean the walls.

Tonight I was pleasantly surprised when she correctly grasped the crayons and created her own artwork!  She had a great time, tried out all 3 colors, and spent a good deal of time drawing.  It was adorable.

Of course she had to 'taste' the crayon (don't worry ... she didn't like it).

Drawing...

I just love this picture.  I caught her playing with the screen door with a show-shutter speed on my new camera.

Conversations with Elayna

Since Elayna was a little baby, she's helped me pick out her clothes in the morning. Usually this consists of her selecting at random from 2 equally cute, mom-approved options. I've never been sure if she understands this game, I think she'll just reach for an inviting color -- but its fun for me nevertheless. I pat myself on the back for my empowering, confidence-building mothering style.

This morning when it came time to change, Elayna strolled into her room and pulled out her favorite pair of monkey 'jammies. These are adorable and I may have dressed her in them if she wasn't going to day-care and it wasn't a million degrees outside. When I showed her my 2 selections, she argumentatively stated (or yelled) 'No!' and fought me when I tried to put one shirt on. She clung to the monkey 'jammies and stood her ground. Apparently she understands this game after all.

Desperate, I started pulling other options out of the drawer. Flowered top? "No!" Green shirt? "No!" Pink tanktop? "Yes!"

"Yes" - just like that. An actual, affirmative, happy response. No more fighting, crying, struggling, or pulling of hair.

And then she proceeded to try to put on the original top I had selected. That's right - she's wearing one of the first outfits I offered her.

I know she comprehends and communicates a lot, but this was the first occasion where I felt like we had an honest conversation. It was trivial but fun, sweet and frustrating. And we may have to amend our clothing selection game from now on....

When I dropped her off at day-care, the director told me a funny story about naptime yesterday.  Elayna is only allowed a pacifier at bed or nap-time, and she LOVES the pacifier.  Yesterday, the director noticed her standing at her cubby after lunch, apparently shaking and tensed-up.  I picture her with a pained look on her face, impatiently awaiting nap and paci-time.  It is like a drug addition!!  Her teacher quickly dug out her sheet, cot, and paci and Elayna willingly laid down to rest.  Problem solved.  Addiction sated. 

She's a funny girl.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day!!  We had high expectations of taking Elayna to the zoo on our Monday off.  However, some things are not meant to be ... 

The night before, someone (we're assuming dumb kids) threw a rock through the back window of the Xterra in our driveway.  We spent our morning filing a police report, calling insurance, and stewing.  Insurance has covered replacing the window but this was annoying anyway.  And we weren't alone - they also got a car down the block and scratched a car next door.

Thanks to our friend Tammy for coming over and having lunch with us!  The girls played and it helped take our mind off the disappointing day.

Here are a few pictures of the poor Xterra....

The broken back window....

The scattered glass and incriminating brick.

My New Toy

When we were home in July, I found and 'borrowed' my dad's old camera.  It is an SLR Pentax film camera with 2 gorgeous lenses (a telephoto portrait and ultra-wide-angle).  I experimented with 4 rolls of film while we were home and was surprised with several great shots.

These are especially good considering I didn't know what any of the levers and knobs did, randomly selected F-stops, and refused to buy a battery for the light-meter.  There were many, many under-developed photos in the mix.  Have no fear, I have since bought a photography book....

Since we've been home, I've been researching and debating what to do with my new set-up.  I sent the film camera body to the shop.  But I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with a film camera so I splurged and bought a new DSLR digital camera this week.  My dad's old lenses will work with it with an adapter, and I'm having a great time experimenting and taking fun pictures!

A small sample:

The cactus blooms in our front yard.  This is a new favorite of mine .... I love the colors and the interesting detail.

Aaron's new favorite:  same flowers but with a friend.

On portrait mode:  my favorite model!!

Happy 17-Months!

I can't believe Elayna is already 17-months!  August has flown by and we're anxiously awaiting the fall weather.

Elayna is learning and growing every day.  She's beautiful and fun!

Her vocabulary (both words and signs):

• Hi and Bye

• Shoes
• Please (sounds like peas)
• Ma-ma and da-da
• Thank-you (sounds like tanu)
• puppy and kitty
• rarrrr (lion/bear sound)
• meow
• he-he (monkey sound)
• bear
• juice
• milk (sign)
• all-done (sign)
• more (sign)
• mine
• no
• yeah! (with clapping)
• uh-oh
• nose and points to her nose
• points to belly (doesn't say it yet though)

A few of her favorite things:

• puzzles
• books
• screw-top bottles
• singing and cartoons
• stairs

Every day she does something new and fun....

2nd Annual Tucson Anniversary Trip

Yeah for our anniversary - 11 happy years!  Aaron and I don't feel that old - but we celebrate anyway with a weekend trip to Tucson.  Elayna came too of course.

For the second straight year, we enjoyed a few days in Tucson.  It's slightly cooler there - especially up in the mountains where we stay.  We eat good Mexican food, we swim in the pool, and we usually take naps (although that didn't really happen this year).

On Saturday, we visited with our friends Bryan and Kim Nickel.  Bryan and Aaron were roommates in college and although we live 2 hours apart, we rarely see each-other.  The just had their second boy - a healthy 7-lb sweetheart named Samuel Grant.  It was so fun to meet Sam and Elayna had a great time playing with Ben Nickel, their almost 2-year old.  We had lunch at McDonalds and played, played, played.

  Elayna and Ben

Our little family

In the Pool!!

It was a fun weekend.  Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!!  I love you!

Thanks, Aunt Allyson!

Aaron's sister Allyson has just spent the last year in Vladivostok Russia and has recently moved to NYC.  She's had a lot of adventures - far more than I can do justice to here - but she always buys great gifts and spoils Elayna rotten!

We just received our box from Vladivostok!  Everything is Cheburashka themed, a popular cartoon character in Russia:  a stuffed animal, matryoshka, and DVD! 

Elayna already loves it ... she's trying to figure out the matryoshka (I only let her play with the largest nesting doll) and she gave the stuffed animal a kiss tonight!!

Thanks Aunt Allyson!!!

Because you can never have enough pictures

I took Elayna into Sears last Friday for 16-month birthday pictures.  I realize 16-months is not a huge-momentus occasion, but Sears has a good deal on a 'one-pose package' and it scratches the picture-taking itch for mom.

The dress was a gift from my mom, Grandma Missy.  We gave her a hard time in Montana because Grandma Missy loves to buy Elayna fancy dresses - so beautiful she can only wear them to weddings, cocktail parties, and movie premiers.  Since we have none of those coming up soon, we'll wear it for pictures instead.  (Note:  there is another dress in the closet being saved for Christmas.) 

 

Happy 16 Month Birthday, baby girl!!

Happy, happy, happy birthday to our gorgeous little Elayna.  

To celebrate - as all kids should do on this very big milestone birthday - we set a bouncy house up in our living room.  And we had a little party with Elayna's best friend, the Bear!

Thanks to our friends Dan and Deb for letting us borrow the house for a week.  Elayna loves it and is now sleeping soundly after wrestling the bear into submission.  What a fun, indoor way to wear out some energy!!