Hats

It is getting colder up here in Soda and I had to take Elliette to work with me so Justin could do apartment manager and military things so I put her in some hats and warm clothes for the office. I thought she was such a cutie in her hats I had to take a picture. Sorry Ryan the Boston baseball cap is still to big (I tried). If you look at her hands in the blue hoodie picture she is showing you one of the many talents she has. The day she was born the nurses brought her into our room laughing and said she had been flipping them all off in the nursery. I didn't even notice she was flipping me off till after I took the pic but I thought it was hilarious and the face she has just goes so perfectly with it. Enjoy!

Labor Day Weekend

OK, I finally got the pics off of the camera so there will be a lot more pictures of Elliette in this post. Now I know Labor Day weekend was a little while ago but lay off I am really slow at this blogging thing. Anyways, it was a great weekend, we decided to bless Ellie then because I had the time off work and the holiday made it so that Justin's family only had to take one day off of work. We blessed her on Sat. the 30th at my parents house. Justin's parents, sis Jill and son Eli whom we hardly ever see all drove in for the occasion. Chris and Blaire came down from Logan, Grandma and Grandpa Bennett, and all my siblings and parents were there as well. I looked into buying a cute little dress for her but I was in major cheapskate mode and refused to pay $45 for a dress that gets worn once even if it is stinking cute. So instead we used the dress that I was blessed in which was kind of cool - thanks mom. After the blessing we had sandwiches and cookies (I couldn't decide what kind of cookies I wanted to make so I ended up with 5 different kinds and about 8 doz large cookies for 18 people.
Since the Nelson's were in town we spent the rest of the weekend in Salt Lake hanging out with everyone. It was a blast. Saturday we went out to Joes Crab Shack and had a fantastic meal and then just hung out till bed time. Sunday we met up in Salt Lake and went to the Tabernacle Choir thing. The part that I could hear was good but because I had a baby with me they sent me into the cry room and that is pretty much what all the other kids were doing (but not mine, she didn't even wake up) so I couldn't hear much. Jill was in there with Eli as well and since it was loud and cold in the room we decided to walk around the grounds till everyone else got out. It was really pretty and it was fun to watch Eli cheese it in front of the fountains every time he got his pic taken. That night we went to a BBQ at Aunt Jana's house. Ryan and Christy brought their baby, Kate (one week younger than Elliette), over so we were finally able to meet her and get some pictures of both girls together. It was such a fun weekend! I had to put this picture in seperate from the slide show because it is my favorite. It looks like Elliette is freaking out and trying to kick Kate off of her blanket; really she was just hungry and annoyed that I was making her lay and get her picture taken before she ate.

A Few of the Many Faces of Elliette

These pictures aren't the best quality since they were taken with our cell phones but I wanted to post a few more pics since Elliette is a month old now (I can't believe it). They change so much so quickly. She is so funny and pulls such funny faces but as soon as a camera is pulled out she puts on her duh face and won't do much more so it has taken a while to get a few different faces, especially the smile. She is so stinking cute, or at least we thing so, and cracks us up daily as we just sit and watch her discover new things. Since she doesn't like to be bound up she has pretty good control of her arms and hands and is getting pretty good at holding her head up as well - especially when she wants something. So far this month has been great and she has stayed a good baby only crying when she wants something or if she has gas pains so it is pretty easy to console her. We have more pictures on the actual camera that I will get around to posting soon (I hope) including ones of her blessing day.

Well I am back to work tomorrow and it makes me sad already to have to leave her for a good portion of the day, even though she mostly sleeps throughout that time. But good news is that I only have to work until Christmas and then we get to move! Woohoo! we can hardly wait. Justin has successfully switched to Military Intelligence so American Fork and California here we come!

Elliette is Born

Little Elliette was born on August 12th at 12:37 am and weighed 8lbs 1oz and is 20 inches long. Speaking of long, you'll see on the slide show that we tried to highlight Elliette's most outstanding feature...her very long fingers. I think she is going to be a basketball player because with those mitts she is probably going to be tall and easily palm a basketball.
Until Melissa got her epidural she was having some pretty intense contractions, but after the happy juice kicked in she was taking naps and watching tv with me. At the end she did get a little sick, but nothing out of the ordinary from what were told. Elliette was actually born when the US was receiving their bronze metal in men's gymnastics, which we were all watching including the doctor and Melissa.
We are starting to notice features that she has from us which worries us a little, but I am sure she will grow up to be a beautiful girl and if for sure a cute baby.
On a side note, we will be posting some videos as well as soon as I edit them...we haven't exactly mastered the use of the video camera yet.

Justin wrote this one.

Wedding Cake, Stretch Marks, and Disc Golf

So here is my recap of the last month. On July 4th and the 24th (I know I am in Idaho but for some reason SE Idaho celebrates the Utah holiday) I was so lucky to have to work. Yup, they are actually two of the holidays I am supposed to get off and be paid for but lucky me got to work. It does work in my favor for the fact that all those hours become comp time and so now I will have almost an entire month of paid leave once my baby arrives. So as far as fun holiday festivities, I didn't really do anything but run tournaments and finish working on the Disc Golf course. Sorry that is boring but it is my life.
On July 12th my friend Sheila got married and I was able to do her wedding cake. It was so much fun and I haven't done a cake since last year when Mandy got married so I was a little nervous. It turned out really cute, especially after they put the flowers on (nope, I forgot to get that pic) and was so much fun.

After we dropped the cake off we ran up to Bear Lake since my mom's family was having a reunion. We stayed there Saturday night and through Sunday just chillin which was great. It was nice to be able to see family I am lucky if I see once a year. I also got to see my cousin Heidi and her new baby Gavin whom I haven't seen since her wedding a few years ago. Sunday before Mandy and Ryan left we ran to a snow shack in BL and got the biggest snow cones ever, they were soooo tasty. For some reason I can't get the picture any bigger but I swear they were huge snow cones, volcano size even.

So in other news I was not able to escape the horrid stretch marks for the entire pregnancy but I did make it pretty darn close. I just hope they fade away real good afterwards.
The 18 hole Disc Golf Course is FINALLY up and running. We had our official open house tournament just yesterday on the 26th. I don't know that I have been so happy to be over with something. It really is a cool course but by the end I was ready to beat the designer and others to death with their own discs. But, on the bright side, no more hauling crap, cement work, moving sand, etc. There is still a lot to do but I think that will all turn in to Eagle scout projects cause for the most part I am done, woohoo!
Well I think that covers this past month for the most part. Oh, I forgot the best news. I may be getting out of this wretched place, finally. Justin is switching to the Military Intelligence Unit and as long as his clearance form gets approved we will move to AF for 10 weeks in January and then are off to sunny California for 1.5 years. Just thinking that day is coming somewhat soon makes me so happy.

Baby Shower Photos

Here are pictures of the baby shower. Thanks so much to everyone it was so much fun. Our baby girl got lots of really cute clothes and blankets, a place to sleep, swing, and a car seat so I think she is already super spoiled. I believe I was at 32 weeks in the photo that shows my belly. I am at 34 weeks now (I know I am really slow at posting) and I still feel huge so not much has changed there. Justin is home now, his job was going good and it would have done real well if we just had a little more time to try it out but with the pregnancy so close and my job and taking care of the apartments wearing me out daily we decided that it was just not the right time, hopefully soon though. My job still kicks my butt and I am exhausted a lot. Justin comes and watches out for me when he knows we are doing something physical and makes sure that I don't do anything but stand there and supervise. I don't mind cause I typically feel better at the end of the days that he does that but I feel bad making everyone else do things like picking up the brush and pouring and finishing the cement forms for the disc golf course. I sneak a little in here and there but I pay for it later. It also wouldn't be that bad if I could come home to an apartment that had A/C (note to anyone pregnant in the summer - have close access to an a/c unit). That same weekend that we had the baby shower Justin bought us a washer and dryer off craigslist and that has been wonderful already, we are very excited about actually being able to wash her clothes (and ours) when we need to.