December In Utah 2010

Look at me! I'm catching up! So- for the Holidays Eleanor and I flew to Utah on December 1st. Clayton had the idea of us going a few weeks earlier so he could focus on finals and we could enjoy extra time with family. So we did. In the future, I don't think we could do another stint away from Clayton as long as we did, but we really had a good time.

Getting there was another story. The night before I am up packing around 1 AM like I always am before a big trip, when I hear odd sounds from Eleanor's room. I go in to check on her to find that she has thrown up all over her bed, pajamas, lamb (that HAS to go to Utah in about four hours) and anything else you can imagine. It was alarming, she has never thrown up that much in her life. I holler for Clayton and he takes bath duty while I clean out the crib and start emergency laundry. We get her and everything cleaned up and tuck her back in, hoping that she can sleep a bit for the trip tomorrow. Not 20 minutes later I hear her again. And once again she has covered everything. Repeat process. The next time Clayton is just rocking her in the room when she explodes again. Repeat process. The next time he is barely walking in her room when she goes for round #4. Good grief. I think the smell in her room was setting her off at this point. We debate whether or not to postpone the flight but she is finally done and now seems happy as a clam. Also- we had planned to drive a neighbor to the airport as well, so we figured we might as well go for it. The rest of the night, she watches Ice Age in our room in bed with me. Neither Clayton or I get a wink of sleep that night.

Being exhausted, weary and more than a bit hormonal from pregnancy, I was a tad emotional when a freaky lady screamed at me on the moving sidewalk because Eleanor kept trying to get back on it. Some days I really hate people. Eleanor was a doll and was super good on the planes. She also wasn't sick again, so that was a bonus. We had two flights, but didn't have to change planes. On the second flight I gave her Benadryl to help her sleepand she got in a good nap.
Here she is showing me what a trouper she is.
You can see that lamb got washed and dried in time!

Happily, Grandma and Grandpa Howell were there waiting for us at the airport. They even brought her balloons, which is about her favorite thing in the world.

We looooove Grandma and Grandpa! I was very much in the "sickness stage" of my pregnancy and was so needing a helping hand by this point.

Happy little reader on the way to Provo.

Back at my parents house, Eleanor was delighted to watch Toy Tory (how she pronounces it) on the big screen. Normally she gets to watch it on a computer or her portable dvd player. We even found her a tutu to match Bonnie's from grandma's dress up bin.

That weekend we celebrated cousin Jack's 9th birthday! This would be the relighting of the candles for the toddler set.

Jack is now properly attired in Michigan gear.

All the big girls went into another room to do glitter nails on our toes. After a few minutes my mom told me to come see Eleanor. She had taken a birthday candle and was dipping it over and over into the cake to "paint" her toes too. Resourceful or gross?




Sadly, I caught what Eleanor had and so for a few days we recovered from our illnesses and just relaxed. It was heaven. My parents even bought Eleanor a special Buzz Light-Year chair for her to lounge in.

We soon found our way to Tom & Jenni's house where Eleanor could watch neighbor kids play.

And hang out with her favorite cousin Allie, who shared all of her toys with Eleanor.

Later we got to see most of our Firth cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Firth's house. They got to put on the nativity. Here is Justin as Joseph, Autumn as Mary and Tyler as his usual donkey.

Eleanor and Monica were Angels. Awww, just like in real life.

However, I don't remember the angels being quite so
"hands on" with the baby Jesus.

Poor Mary. She had a rough time getting her baby back.

Eleanor's job was to hold up the star. Yeaaaahhh! She did it!

Later we opened presents. Or wrapped a few.

She loves her new purses from cousin Tate! It's a good thing she has two, as when her friends come over to play she now has enough to wear one on each arm as they get to watch. Yeah, she's still "learning" to share.

Later in the season we went to visit Santa at Riverwoods. Only Santa wasn't freaking there! Twice! And yes, I looked at the indoor spot too. I wont go into detail, but I was more than a little disappointed. Durr. Luckily she is too little to know if she is missing out.

She was still cute though.

Still to come! Christmas Eve, Day New Years Eve and Clayton's Birthday! Woo hoo! I will finish it!