Dear Elaina,

Happy birthday sweet girl! Mommy can't even explain to you how wonderful the past two years have been. You have brought so many people such joy and happiness. Watching you grow up is so bittersweet, but I wouldn't stop it if I could. I absolutely love the little girl that you are becoming. Hearing your sweet voice say "Love you, Mommy" is worth all the "work" I've had to do in the past two years. Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy...I can't imagine my life without you in it.

ALL my love,
Mommy <3




Now I'm going to go cry like a baby because my little girl is TWO!!

MIA apologies

So, I've been MIA lately. I don't know why honestly.

In the past month I've been working on Elaina's birthday party (this weekend!), starting Weight Watchers (7.5lbs gone! woohoo), and working (boo)!
Elaina is quite the chatterbox now. She's constantly asking "Whasdat?" which is her way of saying "What's that?" She's started composing small sentences/questions, which I love. She's also saying "Wuv you mommy/daddy/papaw/nana/mamaw". THAT melts my heart like nothing else. Even if she doesn't understand what she's saying, it's still so sweet to hear.

As far as the birthday party is concerned, we're pretty excited. Elmo himself will be making an appearance. Yeah, can't wait for that! Elaina is going to love it! I promise pictures soon.

Now some randoms from the last month...

melting the heart of an uncle

As if her uncle Jason could love her any more, Elaina looked at him yesterday and said "Jas-y"...needless to say he smiled bigger than I've probably ever seen him smile. I know how crazy he is about his niece and it's quite obvious that she's pretty smitten for him too. I love the relationship they have and hope they're always close. He's always been an amazing big brother to me, so I know he'll always have Elaina's back as an uncle.

(June 2011)

vocabulary explosion!

Elaina has taken off in the vocabulary department, and I couldn't be happier. It seems like she's saying something new everyday!
My favorite is still "mummy" (no clue where she gets that English accent?!).
Her favorites seem to be "book", "babies", "duck", "bye-bye", and "yeah". We don't get "yes" and/or "no" from her, we get "yeah" and "nah". And this morning I asked her if she wanted milk and she said "please"...manners make my heart melt.
I love getting to hear her voice more and more. We've been hearing it for quite a while, but now we're finally understanding all the "Elaina jibberish".

I haven't mentioned our beach trip, but in one word it was amazing. We had such fun taking Elaina to the beach for the very first time! She loved the ocean and the sand. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the week...

conversations with E

me: "Elaina, what color is your shirt?"
her: "abiba"
me: "Does that mean purple?"
her: "abibish"


we need a translator.

the little moments

We're all guilty of taking the little moments for granted. The little moments with friends, spouses, and children. Realizing how fast the past 21 months have flown by, I've vowed to stop (or at least try) taking advantage of the moments I spend with Elaina. That little girl is my world, and I want to remember and savor every second I have with her. 

   
Being a full-time working mom and wife it's easy to get stuck into a routine. I just have to remember that routine is okay. Routine days can be just as memorable and special as any other day.

Make every day an unforgettable day...it's one think that you'll never regret.