Weeks 29 & 30

Well, I didn't write a post last week because, honestly, I had VERY few pictures! The weekend of the 28th-30th we went to Silver Dollar City for Young Christians' Weekend. Usually a really good time. But this year it was 42 degrees and raining all day. So, not the best weekend! We ended up leaving the park early and hanging out at the hotel. For, the entire weekend, these are the only pictures I have.

Elena, passed out in a chicken nest while I packed.

Elena hanging out with the boys during the saloon show. We saw a group called The Skinny Improv from Springfield. Mostly we wanted to be inside! Check out how soaking wet the boys all are!

Anyway, since I only had a few pictures, I decided to wait until now to post, because I have TONS after last weekend! We went to Springfield to visit Josh's family, and meet Elena's new cousin, Leila. We also stopped by to see Grandma De & Grandpa Don. We spent the weekend just hanging out and relaxing.

Elena read (or chewed on) a good book with Grandpa Looten.

And met Leila for the first time. Elena was VERY interested in her. She actually acted much the same way she does when she sees her glow worm- gets all tense, grunts, then grabs! :) It was pretty sweet to watch!

We got to hang out with Great-grandma De & Grandpa Don, too! Grandpa Don wouldn't hold Elena because he was sick, but Grandma sure enjoyed it!

Then she showed Grandma & Grandpa how good she sits up and grabs for things.

And showed them how she became an expert in carpet tasting! This is actually her starting to learn to crawl. She hasn't quite figured out how to get her knees up and keep her head off of the ground. So she mostly thrashes around with her face in the carpet, usually talking to the floor.

Shortly after I took this picture, she threw a screaming fit! And I mean, SCREAMING! She wouldn't calm down for anything. We tried all of our tricks... all of the 5 "S"s that the guy on the video during childbirth class (swaddle, swing, suck, shush AND side). Since none of those worked- we added our own "S"-- SUGAR! I took a few grains and put them on her binky, then stuffed it back in her mouth. It eventually got her attention enough for Josh to calm her down, and she took a nap. She was just too tired to eat and to hungry to sleep, and she got MAD! She did finally go to sleep, and Josh and I had a nice lunch with Grandma & Grandpa.

Afterwards, we went back to hang out with Jess, Luke, and Leila some more. Hard to believe Elena used to be that small!

During dinner Elena & Leila hung out while the grown ups ate!

And, afterwards, Elena let Leila borrow her swing. The first of many toys they will share, I'm sure.

Elena tried her first sippy cup. Grandma Looten had one that she got in a "Grandma Shower" and it had a soft top, like a bottle, so we thought we'd try it. She was pretty good except that she couldn't figure out that she had to hold the cup tilted up. So she mostly just sucked in air.

This was an entirely different technique!

Sunday morning she wore a new dress to church. Josh and I bought it for her last weekend at The Landing because it was on sale and we thought it was pretty cute. And we were right, she was ADORABLE! :) And she even wore her Easter shoes again! Which is 2 times more than she's worn most of her shoes!

Dress or not, she hasn't really gotten the lady-like thing down yet, though!

So that was our fun weekend with the Lootens, includign the newest addition to the fam! for the rest of this week, not much interesting has happened. Elena just continues to grow like crazy! Cool things that have happened to her in the last few weeks- she has gotten really good at sitting up. She hardly ever falls, and when she does it's kind of like she means to. Or at least she's trying to lean over so she can crawl. She's trying to crawl, too, and moves a lot. But she hasn't really learned to actually crawl. She mostly just sticks her butt in the air, and scoots along with her face in the carpet! She's definitely mobile and active, though, which has changed our lives again! I get the feeling everytime we get settled, she's going to start doing something new again! But that's the fun of being a parent!

She doesn't have any teeth yet. She's also gotten very vocal! She makes all kinds of new noises now. Can't wait until she starts actually talking, but I get the feeling once she starts she won't stop!

Showing Mommy how good she is at sitting up! And playing with her new favorite toy- the pretend car Tim got her for Christmas.

All those toys to play with, and she's sucking on a sock!

I love getting to watch her grow up, it's the most amazing thing to see how she changes every day. My tagline is so right... We're on the ride of our lives!