Eliana's Milk and Cookies First Birthday!

I know, I know...once again I've been slacking on the posts. A few days after Eliana's birthday party, we all were really sick. Then it was sewing, sewing and more sewing for our Halloween costumes!

So here you go, the birthday pictures! I will be doing another post with Eliana's official 1st birthday photos and 12 month update.

I had made a bib each month for monthly pictures I did with Eliana. At the party I had printed out each picture with her wearing the bib and hung the pictures with the matching bib around the dining room.

Her "cookies & milk" cake was one of my favorite parts. It turned out amazing! I made the fondant using the marshmallow fondant recipe that is floating around the web. Super easy! I had one of my friends help me to make the cake itself. She did such a great job.

Eliana had fallen asleep at some point in her party. We ended up waking her up to sing her happy birthday and open presents. She was not very happy about that. Reminded me of Parker's first birthday. You can read about his first birthday party here.

We are so lucky to be able to relocate with other families from AZ. This was the first birthday for our kids, that no members of our extended family members were able to attend. I'm glad that mine and Nolan's parents were able to call in or FaceTime and see the celebration, but it's not the same as seeing them in person. I'm happy and thankful that we have all these "relocated" families...our friends, be able to come and celebrate this birthday milestone with us.

It was an amazing day. Happy First Birthday our lil' princess.

Cake Smash!! Eliana's 1st birthday invitations

It has been awhile since I have struggled with insomnia, but here it rears it's ugly head tonight. Of course, it would be a night Eliana is sleeping as she should, like a baby. Since I can't sleep I decided to write a post.

We decided to have a pre-birthday "cake smash" for Eliana so I could use the pictures for her birthday announcement/invitation.

 

The whole photo shoot came out so cute, very messy, but cute.  Here are a few of my favorites from that day and a sneek peak of her little invitation.  I'm really late at mailing out the invites...more like announcements for out extended family, but I haven't forgotten. They are addressed and headed for the mailbox tomorrow.

It took her a few minutes to want to touch the cake, but once she had a taste of the cake she was thrilled and started making some of the cutest faces.

After I was finished taking all the photos I needed we set loose Mr. Parker to join her in eating the cake. He'd been waiting so patiently in the background and was very excited to be able to join in the fun....of course by the look of Eliana's face, she wasn't thrilled about having to share.

Gotta love those baby toes! 

Here is the finished invite. I love how it turned out! 

Come back in a couple weeks for all the details on her Milk and Cookies 1st birthday! Can't believe Eliana is almost 1

Eliana is 11 months old!

We missed a monthly update! :( August was a crazy busy month. Parker turned 3, school started for Vanessa, in laws were in town visiting and a scary trip to the ER.

Current stats: 

Weight: 19lbs 2oz (25th percentile) 

 Height:  27.50" long (10th-25th percentile) 

Clothing size: Wears 9mo & 6-12 months

 Shoe size: doesn't like wearing them, but she fits in a size 4 or 12-18 months 

At 11 months Eliana;

...took her first steps at exactly 10 months (8.11.13)

...started walking officially on 9.1.2013

... has 6 teeth, no new teeth since around 9 months old

...still barely eats any sort of solid foods. We offer her food at meal times, but she eats only a few bites.

 

...her hair is starting to grow in thick. It's hard to tell, but it looks like it might have a little curl to it. 

...her eyes are starting to shift to more of a blue/green color. She has this beautiful brown band in her eye color too. 

...walking has made her so much more independent. It's a nice break for me during the day because Parker and Eliana play so great together. As long as Eliana doesn't try to touch Parker's trains, lol.

 ...she talks a lot too! She mimics her brother at all times. Sometimes, especially dinner time, that can be slightly frustrating. 

...says; "mama," "dada," "Parpa(Parker)," "sisa (sister or Vanessa)" and "kitty,"

We are working on getting her birthday party together. Her theme will be, "Milk and Cookies." I'm obviously more excited about it than her, but it will be fun. How has it almost been a year already?

We love you so much little miss! Happy 11 months :)

Eliana is 9 months old!!

I'm about a week and a half late getting her monthly birthday post updated! It's here though :)

Current stats: 

Weight: 18lbs 4oz (25-50th percentile) 

 Height:  27.25" long (25th-50th percentile) 

Clothing size: Wears 9mo & 6-12 months

 Shoe size: size 4 or 12-18 months 

At 9 months;

...stands without support

...can stand up without pulling up on furniture/toys

...she took two steps when she wasn't paying attention, but hasn't done it since so I'm not counting that. 

 

...has 6 teeth total. 4 are very visible as of this morning. 2 more are still barely poking out of the gums. (4 on top, 2 on bottom)

...because of said teeth and possibly a growth spurt, lil' miss is having some MAJOR sleep regression. She sleeps worse than when she was a newborn. It's not that she is wide awake wanting to play around. She is wanting to nurse all-night-long. Needless to say, I'm pretty exhausted.

 

...she is still the happiest baby ever!! Sure we have bouts of grumpiness, but it's amazing how this lil' miss can smile through the tears. 

...I'm almost positive she says parpar or baba for her brother. When she gets excited to play with him she babbles these sounds. 

...she is so in love with her sister and brother. She always wants to play with them. She gets excited when she sees them. 

...loves the kitty. Poor Picasso now has two sets of hands trying to pull of his tail.  

...loves to swim! We have free passes to the pool just around the corner from our house and she absolutely loves the water. 

Counting down another wonderful, wonderful month! Happy 9 months my lil' princess.

Eliana is 7 months old!

 Closer and closer we get to Eliana's first birthday. THAT is crazy to think about! 

 

Current stats: 

Weight: 16lbs 9oz (25-50th percentile) 

Height: 26.4" long (25-50th percentile) 

Head circumference:  17.71" (25-50th percentile)

Clothing size: Wears 9mo & 6-12 month 

Shoe size: size 2

At 7 months Eliana, 

...has cut her FIRST tooth! The bottom left tooth in the front. The tooth actually broke the gums a couple days after she "officially" turned 7 months.

...crawls all over the place. Eliana actually does the "bear" crawl. 

...can pull herself to standing position.



...can stand holding on to things with only one hand. 
...she's learning to cruise around toys and furniture while standing.

...can return to sitting position from laying or standing. 

...says, "mama."

...reaches out for me to hold her.



...not sure what color her eyes want to be. Some days they are blue other green or grey.
...her hair is a light reddish-brown, with the cutest little curl in the front. That section of hair has been curling like that since she was born. We comb and brush it and after a bit, will return back to a cute curl.





...still nursing pretty exclusively. We keep trying solids with her, but she still struggles with swallowing them. She gags and ends up spitting them back up.
...when she isn't playing on the floor, she spends the rest of her time in the baby carrier on my chest. I don't complain, this phase won't last long.



...she has a billion of the cutest faces! Amazing that a baby can smile so many different ways.


 
She's growing up too fast...I'm so blessed that I can be a full-time mommy and not miss any of these moments with my kiddos.

Happy 7 months, lil' miss!!

Wittle People Wednesday: Crawling soon?

Linking up with Ashley Sisk for Wittle People Wednesday 

 

I bought this bow a couple weeks ago and I finally had something that she can wear to match it. Unfortunately, Eliana has discovered how to take them off. She's good, I couldn't really take any photos of her wearing it.

She also has been starting to get on her knees more. Maybe she will be crawling soon? Who knows, I'm hoping that she stays non-mobile for a little longer.

Eliana's 6 months old!

This is such a fun age and probably my favorite. They are still not quite mobile, but are becoming a little more independent.

 Current stats: 

Weight: 15lbs 6oz (25-50th percentile) 

Height: 25.78" long (25-50th percentile) 

Head circumference:  16.65" (25-50th percentile)

Clothing size: Wears 9mo & 6-12 month 

Shoe size: size 2 

At 6 months Eliana, 

 ...sits perfectly without support. 

 ...can scoot around the room while sitting. She can really get around if she is sitting on the hardwood. 

...babbles, screams and laughs so much and I'm pretty sure she has said mama a couple times. 

...she is at that age where Parker has fun sitting with her playing. They interact with each other and Parker will sing to her and play peek-a-boo. 

...we have started solids again. She struggles with the taste/texture of any of the baby cereals, so we moved on to fruits. She eats solids maybe every other day usually at dinner. I think I'm going to start giving them to her at breakfast as well. She eats extremely pureed bananas and apples so far. Any sort of texture and she gags and throws up.

...no teeth yet. She might be taking after Parker and will wait until 10 months until one pops up.

 

..she has discovered the kitty. I feel so bad for our cat, but he has such great patience with the little one's.
...she has discovered that if you bang two toys together it makes a loud sound, and she loves it.

 All around Eliana is such a happy baby. She is so smiley, and her temperament is pretty easy going. How did I get blessed with 3 beautiful and wonderful kids. Happy 6 months baby girl!