Friday, February 25, 2011

my lil' rascal

Baby is fed, fresh from the tub and ready for our Friday night slumber party. The skinny, squeaky (but somehow irresistible) bed is out from the sofa and Netflix Instant Queue patiently awaits our selection so I'll make this quick, but I'm just beaming with pride over my baby's growing hair...

my little Elle-falfa (clever right?)
It's actually getting long enough to stick up! Pigtails here we come! I cannot wait. I simply cannot.

Now for some Dances with Wolves...(ain't life grand?)

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

milk, eggs, & playdates, check!

I thought I was the only weirdo that tried to make friends while shopping at Target, but (drum roll please...) I'm not! Awhile back, I started getting so desperate for adult interaction that while in the baby section of Target, I stopped to ask a fellow mommy how old her sweet pea was. Turns out, she was five days younger that baby Elle. Perfect. I felt a playdate coming on...

Well, I'm not as brave as I thought I was cause after sharing a few cute baby anecdotes we went our separate ways. Luckily, my single, baby-free friends are absolutely amazing, and just happen to love my new sidekick who trucks along on Girls Day Out.

Although I had given up on pickin' up mamas at the local department store (wow does that sound creepy), I still have to frequent them when baby girl calls for it. On the agenda for this week was, Target for baby-proofing supplies, largely due to this new trick...

she climbs up everything now
mischievous lil' thing

Okay, okay, back to how I'm not the only weirdo at Target...

While I was there this past Monday shopping for safety supplies for my little mover and shaker, a woman approached me and used my go-to line, "Aww how old is she?" She however, had the nerve to ask for my number so we can have, wait for it... playdates!!  I don't know what I was more excited over, the fact that Elle and I made two new friends, or the realization that I'm not the only mommy using the baby section at Target as a pickup spot. Either way, Ellie Bear and I have a date! Or, we will as soon as Mr. Schedule gives us a day off. (How is it that every inanimate object suddenly has a gender when a baby joins the family?)

Thank you Target for truly being the epitome of one stop shopping!

Welp, there are a pile of these goodies...


And this little monster waiting for me...

always reaching for Mama...I love her!
Let the baby-proofing begin!

Friday, February 18, 2011

drive-ins. not just a place to 'round second base.

Dinner and a movie used to be Shawn and I's "thing". I realize this is an activity many people partake in, but we did it abnormally often. Too much probably. We were very blessed in the area of time spent with one another. Our schedules made it possible to have date nights about four nights a week, sometimes more. It actually got so frequent that we actually struggled in the area of conversation because we had been in each other's faces most of the day.  Every day. All week. All the time.

Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful were able to have that time together as husband and wife. We made sure of it in fact, because all I kept hearing from mommies all over the world was "get those dates in now, cause once baby gets here, it's a whole 'nother story." They weren't kidding. 

Fast forward eight months to baby girl snoozing in the back seat from a fun-filled day of errand running. Normally when this happens, I immediately ask the Mr. if there is anything we missed. I do this because I would like for Elle to get as much sleep as possible before we attempt to yank her car seat out of the peaceful vehicle that is so graciously saving my body from it's baby-napping duties. Then it hit me.

Of course! Why hadn't I thought of it before? The drive-in! The perfect place for Mommy and Daddy to see the latest blockbuster all the while baby sleeps in the back. Even if little baby wakes, I can feed her no problem and she won't disturb anyone else who came to enjoy the movie! Plus, my stained shirt and rats nest hair is perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged (okay maybe not encouraged).

Here's some blurry snippets from my baby-friendly version of dinner and a movie...

right when we arrived, before the sun fully set.

same photo but Elle assisted with this one.

movie starting...the sky was beautiful. (and in real life movie was visible.)

baby girl loved being a big girl in the front seat.

she had so much fun!
It really was a blast! It's such a nice atmosphere being outside watching a movie, looking like a mommy that may be without a brush or makeup from time to time, having the comfort of easily feeding baby and enjoying some quality hubby time when baby drifts back off to sleep.

Thank you drive-in for bringing back the date night!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

life at seven months

Baby Elle, 

Mama nearly forgot you may want to look back on your life at seven months, and there are no stats on what's been happening with you! By the time you are reading this, you may not remember all the fun things that were keeping Mama so busy, so let hopefully this will refresh your memory...

You're calling me by name. It's not always the name we have been practicing, at times, it's more of a Wa-Wa and usually comes with some tears, but either way we know who you're summoning. 

V's, L's, D's, B's and M's are your go-to consonants for the month, and you have recently started saying "yeah". I'm not sure you know what it means but it's still the cutest thing to hear you respond to our questions with an oblivious "yeah". Melts my heart every time.

Fetch is one of your favorite games to play with Mama, you being the one to throw, and I being the one to retrieve. Maybe we can start taking turns soon?

You can roll, sit, crawl and drag your soft, squishy limbs to-and-fro your favorite goodies (this we know), but now you have successfully managed to climb up Mama and Daddy (and parts of the couch) to a standing position! This is exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

As for teeth, you still don't got 'em; however, your bottom gums do have two tiny slivers of white toying with the idea of saying hello. A few more weeks, and I believe they will be brave enough to introduce themselves.

Your neglected crib finally knows the joy of housing your sweet, exhausted body for naps. Mama has enjoyed the handful of times you've taken advantage of this new sleeping ground, but you still fight it to the bitter end. I know they say pick your battles, but I'm really hoping you raise the white flag on this crib conflict soon.

Oatmeal has not been too kind to you. Our trip to emergency awhile back (brought on by excessive vomiting) is now looking like it's cause was oatmeal. I say this because you were just fed oatmeal about an our before said vomiting, and secondly, because the introduction of an apple/oatmeal treat recently, caused you to spit up more than usual once again. Mama's praying it's not an allergy and you'll outgrow it with time.

You adore music. This doesn't surprise me because you do come from a long line of musicians (Mama will tell you more about this later). Commercials, radio, singing, humming, basically anything with a melody, strikes your fancy. Maybe you will be able to live out Mama's dream of playing the piano (no pressure though I promise).

You discovered splashing.

Several times, you have woke from a nap, grabbed the remote from us, and immediately gone back to sleep. Literally within seconds, and literally one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I wish I could capture it on film.

You sing, La La La La....mostly when you're unhappy. Could it have been all that Miranda Lambert "More Like Her" or Beyonce "Broken-Hearted Girl" Mama incessantly played while growing you? Music doesn't always have to be sad little one, I hope I haven't conditioned you with my love for rhythm & blues.

You're strong.

You're happy.

And most of all, for two more days...


You are our perfect lil' seven-month-old.

Monday, February 14, 2011

all we need is (elle)ove

 The title pretty much says it all. All we need is love, and in this home, "Love Starts with Elle" (shameless plug).  
 
 Love is sweet...
 

Love is goofy...
  

Love is innocent...
Love is joyous...
 
Love is playful...

Love is confusing... 



  
 

Love is mesmerizing...

Love is serious...
 

Love is funny...

and most of all, love is putting the ones you love before yourself...

So when baby said "enough with the photos please!"...

Mama said "okay."

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

our valentine's eve

Mondays in the Girouard household are busy busy busy, so it made sense that if we were to do any type of Valentine's day celebrating it would have to be today on Valentine's Eve. It actually turned out to be better than I expected (no offense Shawnee Bear). I say that only because we already had so much planned for today that I thought it would be impossible to fit anything else in, but here I am with enough time left to even blog about it!

It started out with an amazing service at church.  I'll share a video played during the sermon. So beautiful...



Next stop was Target to pick up some ink for our printer, but instead we left with a dress for Ellie Bear and some tasty mints (darn impulse buying). We decided it would be more cost effective if we buy a new printer because our current one eats cartridges like their going outta style ("going outta style", people still say that right?).

Grandma-ma aka Susan came over upon our return and we were free for, well, the amount of time little girl would be okay without any mommy milk. She refuses to drink anything pumped, so I'm limited to about three hours of baby-free time before she's missing me again. I guess it's a good thing I'm obsessed with her, or that could put a cramp in my style.

Here's how the rest played out...

We ate a delicious lunch at one of our fav places. Salad. French dip. Baked beans. French fries and one root beer too many. Since we were already downtown and had passed the monthly farmer's market on the way to the restaurant, we thought we'd take a leisurely stroll before our two hours was up. Turns out, farmer's market packs up at two so that idea was a no-go; however, the sun was still shining and there were root beer calories to be lost, so onward we went.

I am in love with anything vintage and french provincial, which makes 'Vintage and Vogue' one of my favorite stores. I had to take a peek...

they had their V-day beauties out right when you walked in...

gettin' to the good stuff...

love these pearl frames they had everywhere

And now the back room (aka the room where I want to buy every last thing for my little munchkin)...


perfect for her birthday

look at that face

i want this clock for her room

in case we're blessed with another bundle of pink?
Elle's room is done in a french provincial, "couture-ish" theme, e.g., lots of pink and white, touches of blue & green, a huge canvas of Audrey, these lovelies Shawn actually bought me last V-day (he knows me too well)...



And this...
 
frame i made her awhile back

her first photo
It's perfect that my little junebug's flower and stone are roses and pearls because I am obsessed with both. I wish I could drench our entire home with scrolled legs, tufts, buttons, mirrored furniture and fabrics, but I want Shawn to still feel like a man when he enters his home; I take it out on Elle's room instead. That being said, I think this would be perfect for her room when she's a lil' older...

another beautiful find
Shawn ended up surprising me with this when I was busy snapping photos like a weirdo...

knob hanger that says, "Baby Sleeping- You Wake Me, You Take Me"
How is it that for the last two years, my V-day gifts have been for Elle's room? They really do come first don't they?

After all the window shopping, we headed to Starbucks for a last minute pick me up before returning home to baby...

did you know they make a ginormous size called trenta now?
I think my lack of caffeine drinking kept me out of the loop, but look at these new mando-sized cups!

Last but not least...

I baked Shawnee a cake
It may not be the prettiest (I wanted to use pink frosting, but this was his favorite), it sure was tasty though!

Maybe we're on to something with this Valentine's Eve thing cause I really had a beautiful day.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

super weekend

The weather has been so busy setting record temps this week that it's making anything indoors seem unbearable (this includes blogging). I actually had to break out the sandals and vodka and caviar (don't worry, just my favorite nail polish color) for the trip to church. There honestly is nothing better than a gorgeous sunny day filled with Jesus, open-toed shoes and after-church McDonalds. Heaven. 

That was just the precursor to the in-laws stopping by for some pizza and pigskin watchin'. (Thank goodness for breastfeeding or I'd probably be five hundred pounds. Mommy promises to start eating better baby Elle.) We were having a lovely time until Ms. Aguilera belted out the National Anthem. I am not sure if it was the botched lyrics or the notes she tried to hit because of it, but either way baby girl was distraught. I have never seen her burst into tears from anyone singing, but that's exactly what she did. The Packers won (Yay!) and for the first time this winter we all drifted off with every window in the house open. I loved it.

Rewind a little bit to Saturday and baby girl and I were spending time, sixty whole minutes in fact, with my lovely friend Christina. I spent fifteen minutes filling her in on the Girouard happenings and the remainder of the time trying to convince her why she needs to have a baby asap. Besides the fact that she would be an amazing mommy, Elle is in the hunt for a bff. Hopefully my girl's big bow and baby blues got her mommy-clock tickin'! One can dream.

This weekend I was able to spend time with amazing friends, enjoy gorgeous weather, laugh with hilarious family, love a husband that never ceases to amaze me, and raise a daughter that is more perfect than I could have imagined. This weekend there was no stressing. No planning. No over-analyzing. Pure LOVEliness.

And speaking of LOVE (smooth transition right?)...

I made Elle's v-day shirt. Now if only Mr. Sun would go away for awhile, so I can finish her tutu...