Week 43

Well, week 43 was certainly a busy week for us! Aunt Jess & Aunt Kate came into town from Colorado, so we spent the week running around with them! And, as always, a visit from Aunt Jess comes complete with a week of "lightning storms." But I certainly appreciate all of the good pictures of Miss Elena! Way better than I could take... however, after this week there were over 900 pictures, and I had to choose just a "few" (I use that term loosely) to put on a post... so here are the best 32 pictures of our adventures!! :)



Our first adventure was another trip to a Cardinals game... you'd think we would have learned from the first game, that this was NOT a good idea! :) But away we went... We decided to make an afternoon of it by going to "The Hill" in St. Louis to check out the shops and have a good Italian dinner. Which it definitely was that! Unfortunately, by the time we were leaving The Hill and headed to the Metro lot, there were some pretty ugly clouds rolling in. And, by the time we got to the Stadium, it was MONSOONING! Poor Laney fell asleep on the Metro, and I hadn't brought a poncho for her (I couldn't find any kid-sized ponchos) so I took a walmart bag, looped it over her feet, and hooked it to the sides of the stroller. I figured the cover on the stroller would keep the top half covered. And it worked really well... until we had to pick up the front of the stroller and carry her up the stairs, laid out with the rain falling right on her face! Poor thing... she woke up then, as you can imagine!! She looked at me like "What just happened?!" Well, you can see the look for yourself...



It did eventually dry out, and the rest of the game was enjoyable (even if we lost by a lot). We meant to get Elena a Cards hat and forgot, so she had to borrow Daddy's...
This was the FUNNIEST thing! I was feeding her, and every time I gave her a bite she would raise her hand up in the air. No reason, just straight up in the air. Sometimes she would wave her fingers, too! Babies do the funniest things...

All in all, the Cards game was fun, even if we didn't win. The next day was the 4th of July, and we mostly hung out at home, until it was time for the church party. Then we got all dolled up (well, Elena did) and headed out! It was pretty cool because Jess & Kate were there, but so were Great Grnadma & Grandpa Price. So we got to hang out with the whole family... including Grandpa Price! :)
Isn't the dress adorable? Thank you WalMart... and check out the striped headband... from Christmas! :)

Hanging out with Aunt Ruthie! :)
Elena didn't seem to mind the fireworks... as long as she had her binky in her mouth. This is what happened when we tried to take it away from her! But she didn't seem scared of the noise or the light- she just blinked real big when they went off. As long as she had the binky! :)

Saturday, the girls decided to go on a little road trip to the outlet mall in Warrenton- mostly so we could go to the Carter's outlet! To gather our strength, we started out at Rondezvous for B&G and lattes. Check out the cute shorts Miss Elena was wearing!

Shopping, shopping, shopping! It was very bright out there!
After shopping, we had everyone over to our house for bbq chicken and Wii! Here's Elena hanging out with Grandpa... and the new little horse toy Aunt Jess got her at Carters. Jess picked it up to show her, and she just grabbed it and wouldn't let it go!
One tired baby on Sunday afternoon... having company is hard work!
Stylin' and profilin' in her new overalls from Aunt Ruthie!

Monday was our biggest (and last) real adventure-- we went to Rolla to visit Ella and April!! Ella is about 6 months older than Elena, so it's always fun to visit them, talk with April about being a mom, and look at Ella and see where Elena will be in six months! They were pretty cute together!

One of our goals for the week was to get a picture of the tooth! One of our techniques was to hold her spoon above her mouth so she would hold her mouth open. She got tired of that pretty quick...
This is what we call the "old man smile" It's something new she's been doing, and it's hilarious!
Elena does not like grass... she always pulls up one foot, sometimes she tries to balance on her diaper so neither leg touches... but that doesn't usually work well for her!
She has started "giving kisses," although it's more like gnawing... but it's still awful cute...

Ella and Elena playing the piano... Elena LOVED this Fisher-Price piano. She loves all kinds of music, though, so this toy was right up her alley! Definitely a birthday idea! :) Ella was so funny, though, because April said she hadn't played with these toys in forever, and all of a sudden she was totally into them again. For the most part they played together really well, though.
Lovin' on her dog... this dog was the bane of our existence on this trip, but she LOVES it. We brought it with us, and just tossed it in the trunk when we left my house. Yeah, definitely could hear it going off all the way down I-70. So we had to pull over when we got to Hwy 63, get it out of the trunk, and put it in its own seat!!

We even got a bow to stay in her hair! I mean, it has to be stuck right there on the top where the head is thickest, but it stayed!! :)
Elena got to meet April's dog, Cooper... and loved him!

Another little Fisher-Price toy they played with... Elena looked so big standing up and playing with them!
All that playing was hard work... so she took a little nap on Aunt Jessica!

Elena is getting so big! She's getting really good at drinking out of her sippy cup! Tuesday night was Jess & Kate's last night in town, so we went out to Grandma & Grandpa Price's house to hang out. Of course, Uncle Charlie wanted to play with Elena!
And, since she is a country girl, Miss Elena had to do a photo shoot on the John Deere tractor!

Another new trick... high-five!
Sitting in her "big girl" rocking chair.
She was definitely interested in the puppies! And they were interested in her! Even Joy, who is usually pretty wary of Elena.
Riding in her new wagon... with the ever-present puppy dog!

The whole week was a great time! We loved spending all of this time with Aunt Jess & Aunt Kate, just hanging out! Can't wait to see you guys again!