Heat

I don't do well with heat. I get really irritated if I have to be in the heat for too long. And basically, I start melting.

I'm really ready for fall. I'm ready to have my windows open, wear sweaters, boots, scarves, and see beautiful leaves falling.

This year, I really want to go to the Pumpkin Festival in Hartsburg. I think Elliot will have a good time! And, let's get real, I'm mainly going for me, but using Elliot as a excuse! :)

I've already had the urge to listen to Christmas music...but I'm making myself hold out. (For Steve's sake)

Summer 2011

We have had quite a busy summer!

So far, I've been to Chicago to celebrate my friend Suzy's bachelorette party and this past weekend, went to Michigan to watch her get married! She was honestly the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. I cried the second I saw her in her dress, and kept crying a lot throughout the night...

Steve & I have another set of bachelor/bachelorette parties to go to in August. He'll be going to Vegas & I'll be going to St. Louis. Then the weekend after those parties, we have the actual wedding in St. Louis, which we are both a part of.

Not to mention, the last weekend in August, we'll be going to the Lake of the Ozarks with Steve's family for a little family vacation.

I'm tired just thinking about all of the traveling we're doing!

Elliot is growing up so fast. Every day is something new and different. He's always keeping me on my toes. Over the past two weeks he's started saying some new things.

Phone - "Fo"
Hello - "Ho?"
(This is making him sound really ghetto, but I swear he's not!)
Cheese Please! - "Pea pea!"

And just tonight he's started saying "Hawk" which is what we sometimes call him since his middle name is Hawkins. He says it with quite the German gutteral accent. It's pretty cute. He can't say Elliot just yet. Guess those double L's are the pits.

Also, Elliot is learning how to put his Crocs on all by himself. I'd say 45% of the time, he actually puts them on the right foot. We're working on it.

In other news, not quite so exciting perhaps to anyone but me, I just ordered this little beauty....



My new & very stylish friend Emilie Tromp has one, and I fell in love the second I saw it! So, I snatched one up for myself! It'll be so great not to carry a huge purse around sometimes. Or I can just to throw it in the diaper bag & off I go! It's big enough to fit all my essentials! Hooray!

I'll leave you with a picture of my amazingly adorable son. He's so cute it should be a crime!

Long time no see!

So it's been quite a while since my last post. I've been busy with a LOT of things. Mainly, trying to keep my little tyke happy & healthy.

Motherhood is truly one of the best things I've ever experienced and I have enjoyed watching my little man grow up. He does the cutest things, makes the sweetest faces, and says the cutest words.

Here's a recap of my past few months.

Elliot has been walking since 9 months. He actually took his first steps on my birthday! Happy birthday to me!!!

He says 10 or so words. They include, but aren't limited to the following:

Dog
Woof Woof
Cat
Meow (Mow mow)
Shoes (Shoosh)
Juice (Which also sounds like Shoosh)
Cheese (Sheese)
No
Cup
Car
Outside
Inside (Side)
Izzy
Night night (Ny ny)
Mama
Dadda
What's that? (Sat?)

We celebrated his first birthday on March 26th. We had such a great turnout! It was so fun to have all of our friends and family over to celebrate our biggest blessing!

Steve & I have decided that this year we'd like to try to expand our family. I'm really hoping we are blessed with a new baby sometime in the near future! I think Elliot will be a great big brother and I know Steve and I will certainly be over the moon!

Our house has been on the market for a couple months. We are keeping our fingers crossed that someone will buy before school starts. We have found a house that we absolutely LOVE! It's on 2 acres too! Which is so great! We've always wanted a little bit of land, but never thought it'd be a possibility. BUT if our house sells, and the owner of the house we love is willing to come down a bit, we may be able to make it work.

I am so excited about the possibility of it. I'd love to raise my babies on a little bit of land so they can run out & play in the yard. Granted, we have a huge back yard now and it's great! BUT we're just wanting something that backs up to woods so we don't have to worry about neighbors.

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

It's absolutely beautiful out today! And on top of all that, I have a happy baby.

Yesterday was a nightmare. Wednesday night I got maybe 3 hours of sleep due to a teething baby. Then he was very clingy and cranky all day. I thought I was going to lose my mind!!!! I felt so bad for being mad at him, but I was just exhausted. I was in tears at one point. So I just put him down in his crib w/ some toys and turned some music on for him. Thankfully he played by himself for about 30 minutes, so that gave me a nice break.

Today has been great! We got great sleep last night and I've been very productive! So, after laundry, dishes, cleaning my bathroom, and feeding and makin' sure Elliot has had some naps, we're sitting outside on the back porch waiting for Daddy to come home! Elliot's in his walker & I'm sittin' reading my Better Homes & Garden magazines. (Well, obviously not now...but I was before I started blogging)

I love this weather. I'd be okay if it was a LITTLE bit colder, but today is the hottest I like. There's a perfect breeze and the sun feels so good.

Tomorrow we are driving to KC to visit our friends Dhani & Dan and meet up w/ Veronica & Sean. We're going to some art fair down on the plaza. So I'm pretty excited about that. The weather is supposed to be awesome!

Well, I better get back to my magazines! I'm trying to get some ideas for Christmas decorating.

The Many Faces of Elliot H. Carney

Waiting for Fall

I can't wait for fall to arrive. It's my favorite time of the year. I love the smells, the crispness in the air, wearing sweaters & boots, and the fact that is means Christmas is just that much closer. It's just such a cozy time and it will always be my favorite season.

As fall/winter are approaching, I can't help but get really excited for these new seasons to arrive. They will be Elliot's first fall and winter with us outside of my belly. It's hard to believe that just a year ago, I was just barely pregnant and now I have a 5 month old. Time really does fly.

I am so excited about starting family traditions and have been thinking of the perfect ones for us ever since I found out I was pregnant. {I'm probably the biggest planner I know. It's kind of an illness}.

I am definitely a lot more sentimental now that I have a baby. Everything we do I want to document it by taking pictures or video. I don't know how many little silly videos I have of him just smiling or laughing. It never gets old. If I could, I'd document every single one of them, but unfortunately, it's not possible. I have realized that almost every night while he is asleep in his crib, I take a picture of him. I don't think I've ever been a bigger creepster in my lifetime. But honestly, I have never seen anything more beautiful than my sweet little boy's face while he is sleeping. {I'm getting teary just thinking about it...and also trying to resist the urge to go take a peek at him}.

Anyway, I got off on a major rabbit trail there....

Back to me being sentimental & how I want to start family traditions. I want to make everything special for Elliot. When he is an adult & starting his own family, I want him to look back on his childhood and say, "I had the best childhood ever. My parents really went above and beyond to make everything so special for me." I want him to remember carving pumpkins at Halloween or making cookies for Santa and reading "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve while snuggled in bed w/ his Daddy & I. I just can't wait.

I fall more and more in love with him every single day. It's amazing how much love one heart can hold. Just when you think you can't love someone anymore than you already do, your heart finds a way to grow just a little bit more.

Small Frye

So how adorable are these little Frye boots? I LOVE THEM! I have been wanting them for a while, and since we are doing family photos again next month for Elliot's 6 month birthday, I decided I wanted him to wear shoes and I thought these would be so cute! I couldn't pass them up. My mom ended up buying them for us. Isn't that so sweet of her?

Anyway, now I'm trying to think of outfits for us to wear for the photo shoot. I have 2 dresses I'm going to order myself just to see which one I like the best. I found some boots I want as well. I've already got one outfit picked out for myself, but I have to try it on to see if it looks as good on as it does in my head!

Once I figure out what Elliot & I are wearing, I'll be able to pick something out for Steve. I may have to go buy him a new shirt or two! :)