Boxes are great! Babies easily fit, and with a little Cheerios and juice could easily manage the trip to Grandma’s house.
OR
Boxes can be used for hours-long games of peek-a-boo and Elayna-in-the-box. “Where’s ‘Layna?”
The fun only ends when baby gets too excited, starts dancing in the box, and tips it over on her head.
I’ve started thinking of Elayna as a 2-year old. And while we can’t seem to pinpoint when or where the change has happened, she’s so grown-up – clever and smart. She says a variety of words (sometimes even correctly) and makes us laugh daily.
Yesterday, we stripped Elayna’s clothes off after a delicious spaghetti dinner. We were watching the Olympics while she played in her room and could hear her chatting away, playing. All of a sudden, she started yelling, “’Irt, ‘irt” (shirt) and ran out the most excited I’ve ever seen her. She had squeezed into a long sleeve shirt as a tube top and was EXTREMELY proud of herself. It was adorable and made us both laugh.
I’ll share this video too – it illustrates just how much she’s talking and how sweet she is. When Aaron first gets home from work she’ll demand ‘Sheep’ wanting to watch the cartoon ‘Shawn the Sheep’, their little tradition. There’s a cute moment where she’s playing Peek-a-boo and says ‘Where’s Layna?’ She also says ‘Love you!’ at the end (melts my heart).
Aaron’s Aunt Margene and Uncle Gordon are in town for a few weeks to ‘try-out’ being snow-birds. They’ve been extremely busy touring the state and visiting friends. We were lucky enough to have them stay with us for 2 nights, and they met our friends at the Super Bowl party. We also had dinner with them last night at Marcellino’s – our favorite Italian restaurant!
Elayna has loved seeing Margene and Gordon again. While she hasn’t committed to an actual ‘hug’ yet, she’s playful and happy to be around them. Family is great!
Aaron has been a New Orleans Saints fan since – well – probably as l0ng as he’s been a football fan. So when the team miraculously made it to the Super Bowl we definitely had to have a party!
On Sunday, approximately 20 adults and 10 kids crammed into our little house for a GREAT party. With our Mardi Gras theme, we cooked up jambalaya, muffaletta, and King Cake. We decorated with beads and masks and Aaron mixed a mean Hurricane. We set up the bouncy outside for the kids (until the rain started) and then turned up the movies in Elayna’s room. And I STILL couldn’t win any money in the football pool.
Here are a few pictures:
My King Cake!
Such fun in the bouncy! 
Stacey and Deb
