Guess what?

Guess what Eleanor knows. She knows the names of Woody, Buzz, Jessie, BullsEye, Lotso, Big Baby etc etc... She calls Woody-Buddy. It's kind of funny. What is not funny is how many times a day she wants to watch them. I shouldn't say how many times, but how much of her waking hours she wants to spend watching Toy Story 2 or 3. I'd say about 97%. And lately I've been letting her. I've also been letting her eat fruit snacks on end, all the marshmallows from the Lucky Charms, pretzels by the handful and sippy after sippy of juice not mixed with water.

Parent of the year folks.

Why am I doing such a bang up job? Well, she and Clayton have colds, so if she eats anything lately, it's a win. Oh, and I'm pregnant. So my ability to perform most of my tasks is hampered by a longing to spend time with my face pressed against the cold (sanitized) side of the toilet. Thought you might like to know.

Things that I no longer want to do:
Eat, but wait, I'm starving. Oh, bad idea.
Laundry
Dishes
Sweeping/mopping
Yard work
Tidying
Vacuuming
Projects
Blogging (you are welcome)
Calling duties (sorry Primary children)
Waking before noon
Grocery shopping (it's a nightmare)
Making breakfast, lunch or dinner (poor Clayton)
showering (I know, this is getting awesome)


Basically, you name it and I have nothing but lethargy for it. I've been pretty good in not letting my house go, but I need to be better. Yesterday I got to hear the heart beat, and I am past 10 weeks so I am hoping there is no miscarrying this time. As sick as I have been, I think it should be ok. We are due on June 11th. We will be finding out the gender at the end of December, early January if I can get a hold of that lady that does gender ultrasounds for cash in Provo. (Sweetest deal ever. $36!)

Are you all excited for Marianne's pregnancy complaints part two? Yaaaay! I know! My complaining is super fun to read about, as you might remember with Eleanor. Start making your baby name lists, people!

Halloween Wrap Up

So half of my pictures will not download to the computer. I know how to fix it, but am too tired this week to care. I will just post a few from what did show up. We had a very fun Halloween week. I was in charge of the activity for our playgroup. Playgroup activities can be tricky as most the kids are 3 and under. Arts and crafts just aren't their thing, yet. I made candied popcorn balls to look like pumpkins and cut out face parts for them to just stick on the bags. Then I did the old standby (cop-out) classic of a Kleenex tied over a lollipop to make a ghost. Hey, they liked it. Eleanor's "real" costume wasn't ready yet so I made her a quick witch with a hat I had bought at Target for a dollar.

The leg warmers were also in the Target Dollar section. Love that store.

Here she is with our cute Turtle neighbor Zach. Oh, ya- I curled Eleanor's hair for some reason. There is something weird about curling her hair. Normally a girl looks a bit cuter with her hair curled up, but Eleanor doesn't look cuter, just different. Now, you all know how obsessed I am with her little face, but I couldn't help but call her Kristy McNichol all day. No one else got it. You are all too young.

Do you freaking remember how good those candy popcorn balls are? When I convert people to Dots in their popcorn, this is the flavor that it conjures up. This is why I eat popcorn with Dots.

Eleanor with her cutie-patooie friend Kinsley. I can get her to go anywhere if I promise Kinsley will be there.

And Halloween Night! Some great people in our ward hosted a trunk or treat in their cul-de-sac. They had cider, hot chocolate, treats etc... They had an awesome turn out. I sat on my spooky trunk while Clayton took E around to all the cars. She got a good haul! As for costumes, Clayton was Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Eleanor was an MSU Spartan Cheerleader (I could get her to say "Go state!" and "Go green, go white!") and I was a lame-o Spartan Fan in a sweatshirt. But at least I brought my own cheerleader, right?

Yaaaaay for being outdoors at night with a bajillion kids! See her adorable matching teddy-bear? Found it at the thrift store for a dollar. I think "a dollar" is the real theme of this blog. Pom-poms? That's right, 1 buck. I found her green top at a Mom to Mom sale and the white turtleneck at another thrift store. (Don't worry, I wash this stuff.) I made her skirt and sewed the "S" onto the neck of the shirt to cover a snowflake. I was happy with the results, but in pictures the greens don't match. They look closer in person.

See how cute her hair is in pigtails? Sooo much better than the curls? Sorry, done obsessing.

My mom sent her a sweet BYU cheer costume, but I convinced her to send a size too big, and it didn't fit. So that will have to be for dress up. I will post more pictures if I can ever get them to load properly. Still lots to catch up on, but too busy to do it now. I am only blogging now so I can avoid other things on my list. Clayton's sweet parents are coming this week! Michigan is the coolest guys, I don't know how else to convince you. All the cool kids are visiting, do you want to be uncool? Sorry, I am super tired. Night all.

I Win. Oh, you want to know why you lost?

Because, did THIS happen to you on YOUR birthday?


I didn't think so.

Although, to bring a little humility in,
when I asked her whose birthday it was, she answered:"A doggy?".

On the bright side, I got a honkin-mother of a Sam's Club cake.

I turned thirty something. Officially fudging any
numbers from here on out.

P.S. I am so behind on blogging. You wont even get Halloween for a few more days. Boooo.

Oh, Hello Perfection.

So yes, this first picture is perfection to me. I could wallpaper my house with this photo and die happy. Do you ever get a shot like that? One that you love above all the others? Then again, I get about one a week with Eleanor. Must be a mom thing. So- this was taken at the end of our day at the Uncle John's Cider Mill a week ago. It was raining so we only stopped to get cider and donuts with the J. Reuben Clark society. Normally there are a lot of fun kid things to do, so, sorry Eleanor. Next year.

Here we are inside overlooking the cider press. It's fun to see the apples getting squished. And the smells reminded me of life back in Manson Washington, where I grew up. Apple sheds and orchards were part of every one's life there. ("Sheds" are actually huge processing buildings.)

Eleanor loved looking through the slats at the action.

Outside we bundled her back up for the cold. Do you love her boots as much as I do? You do? Good. I have the exact same ones! Remember?

And our little trouper getting back in the car. More fall and Halloween to come!

A,B,C....

Eleanor is always surprising us with what she picks up. The latest is her "ABCs". She starts with "H, I", skips to "O,O,O,O....QRS...Nooowww Myyyy Knooowww." And that's about it. Sometimes she throws in "Y &Z" but not often. Usually she hits the end and just starts right back at "H". It cracks me up. These videos are a bit indulgent so feel free to skip.
For grandparents, however, it's required watching.

Kitchen Before & After!!

Remember this? Although I am one of the slowest unpackers ever, I did actually get the kitchen together so Eleanor didn't have to eat in a towering Mousetrap. Can you find her amidst the clutter? Somewhere to the right of the diet coke. So it was put away, but not cute.

Then I decided I was so in love with the color Peacock Blue that I had to put it somewhere in my house. Being renters, I had to put it somewhere small, so that when we move in 2 years it will be easy to paint over. I chose the back splash. I love the look of lacquered walls and venetian plaster, so I did my own DIY version. Since the back wall was super beat up from when they changed out the counter tops a few years ago, I decided to go with the textured look of venetian plaster. I used cheap wall putty to make it look like plaster, painted over it with my glossy paint and then wiped a rub-on poly over that to make it really shine. This is just the paint color test. But you can see how truly awesome it looked before. Ha.

And here is a picture where you really can't see the texture at all. Go Marianne! But you can see that I moved my measuring cups and salt off of my little ledge and made it an actual "display" of sorts. Pretend those are air quotes around the word display. P.S. The empty knife magnet thing is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think everyone should own one. You can even install them inside of your cabinets! They are so handy! Um, paper towels are never cute, but what can you do?

I also finally got around to hanging some pictures up and making little curtains for the windows. So I declare that the kitchen is done! Maybe. Either way, here are the before and after pictures. Please ignore the after pictures garland. That was for a baby shower that was at my house. It's not permanent.

Before....

After!

After!

After! P.S. Did I mention that I found the cake stand I have been looking for for over 6 years? My sweet Bishop's wife from my singles ward (What up Wendy!) had one that I adored and I have been searching ever since. Also didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for one. This one was $16 at TJMaxx! Early birthday present to me!

More after.

Close up of the curtain fabric. I searched in vain for something less than $49 a yard. Finally I found this coverlet from Urban Outfitters and made it into curtains for two rooms! I plan to use more of it elsewhere. I have a ton left over.

Here are a few close ups of the art I hung in here. I have so many family photos in our living room (blog to come soon) that I only wanted art prints in here. Here is Queen Esther by one of my favorites, Minerva Teichert. I got this for Clayton for his birthday last year. We have a problem of buying each other gifts that we want for ourselves.

The Lost Balloon.

Disaster & Accident in the Italian District

Doll jumping rope with cats. Yep. Underneath, Rainbow circle? Sadly I find these images off of public domain sites (and a few, cough cough, other sites) and don't know the artists info.

A close up of a Carrière self portrait and a robot escaping on a pony.

Menier Chocolate advertising poster by Firmin Bouisset. Chocolate graffiti?
I can get behind that.

And a gratuitous treat shot. The baby shower had some serious good eats. Pinwheels, homemade salsa, apples with caramel, chocolate caramel cookies, coconut cupcakes, veggie pizza... Happiness. I decorated with an aqua and red theme, but it wasn't very clear. Oh well. The adorable red magnet board is actually from Eleanor's room, which is ALSO done. I know! Three rooms done? What is up Marianne? I will post them all soon. That is my goal. But you all know how I am with goals, so...

And because a post should always contain something of Eleanor.
Here is a sneak peak at the living room.

Dog Appreciation Day

Look at what I can do! No- not opening the door, I can braid her little hair! Ok, so I know this isn't as exciting to most of you as it is to me. But a few moms can appreciate how fun a new hairstyle is
on your little girl.

Sadly, she left them in for all of 17 seconds, but hey, at least I got the picture. This is actually over a month ago as you can see from the summer-wear.The property just behind ours houses a family that have a few dogs. They are wonderful dog owners- in that I never hear them. I suppose there is more to being a good dog owner, for all I know they have had their voice boxes removed or something equally horrifying. But as long as barking doesn't keep me up at night, and a fence keeps your dogs from "going" on my lawn- then you are awesome dog owners.
Anyhow.
Eleanor gets excited if we are outside and she hears the dogs. I used to lift her up to look over, but that's only fun for about 10 seconds. After that my arms start quivering and I resolve to work out. Since that isn't a good idea, we found her a little step stool to peep though a knot hole.

She looks like the world's cutest pervert.

She stood there for ages on the day I took these shots. She kept saying "Hi doggy!" each time one would run past. If they got too close she would giggle and squeal.

Here is a little video of her watching the dogs. I love how she knocks on the fence, like they might open a door for her or something. And then how she waves goodbye through the tiny hole. And how she grabs her pants when I say "panting". Sorry, but she's just so cute!

And here is Eleanor's new favorite video that doesn't star Elmo. She will watch this on repeat about 80 times in a row. It's great for when I am making dinner. Sit her down and press replay every 4 minutes. It's a fun video and a great song. We love OkGo.

P.S. My blog cuts off 1/4 of the screen. Click on the Title at the top of the "screen" to see it there in full, it's much better that way.

A Little Too Close To Home

This is from the awesome site Toothpaste For Dinner, which I first learned about from Awesome KaRyn. I love them both. Sadly, this cartoon sums up my last few weeks. It doesn't help that McDonalds is now running their yearly Monopoly Game. I get a little thrill each time I buy my dollar diet coke, it's kinda like a daily lottery ticket. Only with way worse odds. But at least I get my tasty fix. If you are ever bored at work or home, scroll through the archives of this site. You will find something hilarious every time, guaranteed.

If Only We All Looked This Cute Waking Up

One of my favorite things is getting Eleanor up- in the morning or when she has woken up from her nap. I try to let her have a little quiet time with her lamb so I can sleep in, er, I mean, so she can learn imaginative play? or something. No, but really, she is at her cutest and sweetest when she wakes up after a good rest. She sings and talks to her babies, talks to her books in the bookshelf and repeatedly tells Elmo to do stuff. Not sure how that's working out for her. Sometimes when I come in she just wants me to hand her something
and she is good for a few more minutes.

The other thing I love is how stinking cute she is after sleeping. Her hair is always a rumpled mess and she has that adorable puffy baby face. It kills me. A few days ago I took a series of pictures of her after her nap. You can see how funny she is in each one. I will spare you my captions. You're welcome.

Luckily, I Bought a Whole Gallon

When this happens...

It's a good thing that you are this cute.After painting my kitchen back-splash (Pictures to come shortly) I put the 2/3rds full gallon of paint on the table. 3 minutes alone and Eleanor knocked it on the ground. I got it almost all back in the can and not a bit of a stain on the floor. Thank you "wood" laminate! Let's just be glad the paint went over the table and not towards the computer that was inches away. Blessings in disguise right? Speaking of disguises, yes, those are glow in the dark skeleton pajamas. How could I not buy them?