Snow Day (and 17 months!)

Eliza was 17-months-old on Thursday. Just one day after Brian's 26th birthday. We totally forgot her Raggedy Ann picture, so it didn't get taken 'til yesterday. Brian had some flash issues, so this didn't come out the greatest. Still, she's 17-months-old. Such a big girl. Eliza is attempting to talk, but outside of "Who/What's that?", "Oh Wow" and "Hey", she really doesn't have much to say. She's trying to mimic the sound of words, but nothing much yet. She still doesn't say "Mom" on a regular basis. She does, however, seem to address me by the name "Bop!".

Today we decided to enjoy the snow and take Eliza out for her first sledding adventure. Unfortunately, there were no sleds to be found for the big people. We decided to break out Squeakin' Bill Quackers and see if he'd make a good sled. It took a good incline to get him going, but once we did, Eliza had a great time. Here's a little bit of video.





We came home and warmed up with the homemade hot chocolate. Such an excellent winter Saturday. Now we're watching Kentucky play Vanderbilt and being entirely lazy.

Country Girl

Eliza got a toy barn and a stuffed tractor for Christmas. We decided to dress her up in her tractor t-shirt and let her play with her farm toys. Sadly, once Brian got his camera out, she only wanted to play with his camera. Silly baby.

Don't the pigtails crack you up? She looks like such a big girl.

16 months!

Eliza is 16-months-old today!

This past month she celebrated her second Christmas, got her bangs trimmed for the first time, found out she's 30 inches tall and 26 lbs, and started saying "okay". She has a whole mouth full of teeth and isn't afraid to use 'em. She's decided that she doesn't like ham or turkey but she LOVES burgers.

Eliza has a bit of a cold right now, but she still held still for our monthly Raggedy Ann picture. Such a good girl.

The Holiday recap and a video year in review

The holiday time has been a blast. Thanks to everyone with whom we shared our time. A special thanks goes out to our family in Western Ky for hosting us for a few days this December. We had a fantastic time and can't wait to see you guys again real soon.

We hope everyone else has had a wonderful Christmas this year. 2009 has been a rather eventful and interesting year. Here's a video wrapping up this year in Eliza's life. This year she lived in three houses, two towns, turned one, made her first visit to the zoo, Kings Island and Nashville, and learned to walk. Now she's beginning to learn to talk. Here's a trip down memory lane and then some pictures from our Christmas vacation. By the way YouTube didn't like the song we used, so we had to find a different video host. Hope this works okay.

Eliza's 2009 wrap-up from Janie Smith on Vimeo.

Cutie, huh? Can you believe how much she's changed this year?

Sadly, Eliza has caught a bit of a chest cold. She's still the best natured baby in the world and doesn't even seem as though she feels bad. It's amazing that she hasn't gotten sick sooner, with all the running around and visiting we've done this month.

We went to Mayfield and visited with family.




Then we went to Nashville to visit the science museum, the Opryland hotel, and to see Charlie Brown Christmas in ICE. Which was one of the coolest things (literally, too) I've ever seen in my life. If you haven't seen it, run, don't walk, to see this exhibit before it closes.




For our Christmas, we went to my Mom's house Christmas Eve and then spent a very lazy Christmas Day at home. Eliza got a new toy barn that makes all kinds of sounds and has lots of fun buttons to push. She also got her first set of Duplos and her first Hello Kitty doll.

Here's some video of us playing in our living room after Eliza's new toys seemingly exploded all over the place.



Hope everyone else out there had a wonderful holiday time, too.

Have a happy and healthy 2010 and stay tuned for Eliza's 16 month Raggedy Ann picture coming soon!

Summer-Winter (a picture recap) and some other tidbits

I've been terrible with keeping up the blog. I'll give you a little update on us and then show you some of the pictures I just pulled from the little camera I carry in my purse. I have some from back in the summer, even!

Thanksgiving was nice, but the next day my Mom fell ill and spent a week in the hospital in Louisville. Brian's Mom was nice enough to stay with us and keep Eliza last week. Thankfully, my mother is home and doing much better, so we'll be back in our usual routine tomorrow.

We've put up two Christmas trees this year. We initially put up an artificial tree, but it's no secret that I'm not a fan of the fake tree or colored lights. My very understanding husband let me undecorate the fake tree and put up a real one with white lights. Before and after pictures to follow below.

Next week we're heading to Western KY to visit family and we'll also head to Nashville to take in some of the holiday cheer at the Opryland Hotel. We couldn't be more thrilled.

Eliza is chatting up a storm these days. She likes to say "Oh, wow!" along with "Who/what's that?" Along with her own little alien baby language we've yet to translate. Her hair is getting much longer and really wild, but she won't let me put bows and ponytail holders in it. She has almost a full mouth of teeth and still uses them to chew almost anything she can get her hands on.

And now, a half a year's worth of quick snapshots.

A bright little picture...

This one goes out to Betty, who is hopefully continuing to get better in Louisville as we speak. Eliza's (slightly overdue) 15-month picture.

I'm a slacker!

Sorry for the lapse in posts. We've been so busy with work and the approaching holiday and we haven't had much time to update. We're hosting Thanksgiving this year and we're too excited for words.

This past weekend was a productive one. We both had to work Saturday, but Sunday we cleaned up the house and then headed out to the park. The weekend before that, we went back to the Orchard with Brian's Dad and Stepmom. We had a ton of fun on a hayride and buying apples for another pie. I also bought some pie pumpkins and tried my hand at a homemade pumpkin pie. We have pictures from both weekends and plan to post them shortly, we swear.

Eliza is, of course, thriving. Lately she's learning to get her way by squealing loudly. She's also learned to say "up" when she wants out of her high chair or she wants someone to hold her. She doesn't have any other baby family members to play with, so she's fascinated when she sees other kids. She needs some buddies and I think we're going to be working on that soon.

Pictures to come soon!