Directoral Debut

And oh, yea, proof that she's crawling. I like to call her our Curious George. This kid is a mover & shaker.

We're Baaaaccckkkkk

Flights to & from Cali went wonderfully.
Time there was awesome (thanks Becca & George for your amazing hospitality).

I'm waiting on the really good pics from B & G, so here are a few I took just to whet your appetite:

Outbound to Cali (this state only lasted for about 30 mins) -

1/2 way through our big Yosemite hike (bringing back some frigid Inca Trail memories) -

California loovvveee...

No fake i.d. required for this all-you-can-drink wine tasting -

Lovin' Ghirardelli's with Uncle George & Aunt Becca -

And prepping for the big flight home with Aunt Katie -

It's Official: Crawling!

I've been too busy to capture it on video, so for the sake of record keeping, I'll just document in writing that Elynor is officially crawling. That's right, she's moving on knees and hands for the majority of the time. There are still a few belly scoots thrown in there here & there, but more often than not she's moving via the knees. I think this officially commenced last Thursday when she motored across a tennis court while I was doing some ab exercises (at a class, I don't just go to the tennis courts to do ab work). While this was exciting and all, I quickly learned a mommy lesson - crawling means dirty pants. Those cute pink terry sweats aren't quite as dainty with blackness buried into on each knee. Going forward, the dark pants will be making it into the outfit rotation more frequently. She's still working on her speed... but I predict it won't be long before I'm doing more chasing than watching. I'll do my best to share a video soon.

The Next Annie Leibovitz?

After reading my Invisible Mama post, our dear friend Leslie reminded me about her daughter Trinity's, recent photo shoot. I don't know about you, but I think the next Annie Leibovitz is in the making. Notice the skill with which she captures the personalities of her subjects. I'm going to save these 3-year-old Trinity shots for the day they're worth millions!

Silly Sarah - next time she'll have to make it look like I'm holding myself
up with very strong abs!

Whoa, maybe a little too much chest. But oh, the detail of the arm rolls...

Accentuating the bold, blue eyes & smooth skin of the right cheek. But wait, is that a booger and some apricot remains?

Flyin' to Cali

Tomorrow we're going on our first official vacation + Elynor!

We're heading outside San Fran to visit my sister & her husband, Elynor's Aunt Becca & Uncle George. Auntie Katie will join us from Indy on Friday (we're winning out over a trip to the Indy 500, oh do we feel special), as will our cousin Maggie, and our two Aunts - Corinne & Sandy. Lest you think we're cool enough for all these people to head out west, we'll also be visiting our cousin Molly, her husband John, & our newest family member, their sweet daughter, Maddie, who also live outside San Fran. It's a little family reunion!

Becca & George have a great itinerary lined up for us... all of which we'll report on when we return home next week. Please join us in praying Elynor enjoys her first plane rides (allowing others on the plane to enjoy theirs, too:)...

Recommendation

If you ever put your house on the market, I strongly recommend just moving out immediately. Or leaving your stuff there so it looks all cozy, but going and staying at a friends or a hotel.

Otherwise, here's what will happen:

- You will never cook b/c you don't want to have to deal with cleaning up the mess, or even worse, lingering smells that could offend the next potential buyer. But when you give in after getting sick of eating microwave soup or PB & J sandwiches, you'll be up until the wee hours of the morning getting things back to pristine condition and then you'll freeze the next day b/c you have to keep the windows open to air the place out.

- You will permanently sit on the floor b/c your couch covers are perfectly placed... suggesting you could actually have nice looking couches. And you'll get a lot more sleep or read more books because when your back starts breaking at about 8pm, you move to the more comfortable bed. If you have couch covers now and ever plan to sell your place, use your economic stimulus check for a new couch. I promise you (and your back and your marriage) will thank me for this suggestion.

- You will become more frequent patrons of Starbucks (or any other neighborhood coffee shop) because you: A) No longer brew coffee at home for fear of the lingering smell (see #1, above), 2)Use it as a hideout for you & the baby anytime your place is being shown.

- You will wonder where you put that dirty towel, those clean underwear, that library book, that stuffed octopus, your computer, your vacuum, etc. For, at t-minus 5 minutes to showing time, you will throw anything and everything into your private bedroom armoire, your storage ottomans, under baby's crib, or even down to the basement storage unit (and pray, pray, pray that prospective buyer will not want to see the storage unit... but then again, that would mean they're really interested in the place.... hmmmm....).

Here's praying this place sells soon & very soon...

Invisible Mama

So, on Mother's Day it occurred to me that of the many pics we've taken since Elynor's birth, very few include me. Since you all know what I look like, and I don't think I make nearly as many funny/cute/interesting faces, this seems like no big deal. But then I started thinking about this website as a journal... documentation that Elynor (and maybe her siblings and/or children...) will hopefully look back at one day. When considering this, I decided we need to make a more concerted effort to include the other people in her life (including me). I mean, when I look back at my baby book, seeing my mom, dad, grandparents, aunts/uncles is probably even more interesting than seeing the chubby munchkin I once was.

Inspired, we immediately took a few pictures including me. Maybe these help to explain why I'm not in more shots. :)

No, this is not a hold-out picture. I am making crazy moves with my hands to try to get Elynor to look up. And we're not simply smiling, but shocked at the crazy sounds Grandma Sue & Granpda Lyle are making to keep her attention. NOTE: Bad hair and unmatching hat (though very cute, thanks Auntie Katie) are due to the Mother's Day monsoon.

My budding (and very advanced) artist made me a special Mother's Day card. She's so thoughtful that on the back she wrote a "special thank-you to daddy for helping her with the card...".

After the babe goes to bed, I enjoy my new fave pastime - making baby food (then cleaning it all up so the house is ready for the next showing - ahhhhh!!!!). Elynor can sure put down the food, so it's quite the challenge to keep up with her. A special prize will be rewarded to the first person to guess what flavor this batch is. Here's a hint: it's not rice pudding.

Over the River(s)...

and through the woods... to Elynor's house Grandma & Grandpa go...

Thank you Grandpa Lyle & Grandma Sue for making the 12-hour trek (one way!) from Northwest MN to spend approx. 22 hours with us this weekend. Some might call this crazy, but we call it extreme love. As always, we filled our time from start to finish - watching Elynor's antics, strolling around the 'hood, introducing G & G to thai food at Sticky Rice and Jimmy John's sandwiches, some extreme ice cream at Margie's Candies, and braving the Sunday morning monsoon to see our new little house and share a Mother's Day church service. Phew! I took a nap after all of that... but G & G drove 12 more hours to return home around 1am.

Thank you - we love you.

Grandma and Grandpa take turns luring the baby to their arms -

Grandpa Lyle bravely sacrifices his precious gold watch to E's frantic waves. Fortunately, there were no watch casualties.

Grandma Sue plays it safe with her watch, instead offering up a note card package.

Celebrating Mother's Day in style at Jimmy John's

(subs-so-fast-you'll-freak so G & G could get on the road)!

Until next time, thanks for visiting....

Expressing Her Love

Elynor & I held an exclusive photo shoot for her to share some Mother's Day love with her grandmas and other special mamas/friends. I now have a new appreciation for all professional baby photographers. Capturing this winning shot was no small feat, as documented in the video clip. Multiply that video clip by about 30 minutes (and countless failed photos) and you've got my afternoon before stealing this shot.

... And if you're wondering, no, I don't feed this kid candy!

Cheerio

Forget eating, Cheerios star as the new body art -

Today

Clean hair.
Dirty face.
Full tummy.
Happy girl.

Curious

While we waited for room on the swings, Elynor explored the lush grass carpet at the park. She also intently watched the many children running around and listened to the different languages. Really, we probably could have skipped the swings and she would have been just as happy. I love all the learning that goes on by simply taking in the neighborhood! I also love watching her grow into a curious little girl.

RE: i'm so excited to see you!!!

here's what i believe to be elynor's first formal correspondence -

----- Original Message ----

From: Becca
To: Sarah
Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 6:29:39 PM
Subject: i'm so excited to see you!!!

elynor,

so, i just wanted to say that.... (open pic).
and i can't wait to meet you for the first time. i'm eating solid food now, so if you're in to carrots or even lettuce i'd be up for a snack date. let me know so i can plan ahead. any time between 9pm- midnight is good for me. thanks!

love your cousin,

phoenix

----- Original Message ----
From: Sarah
To: Becca
Sent: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 2:39:39 AM
Subject: RE: i'm so excited to see you!!!


hi phoenix,

i'm sorry i took so long to write you back. my mommy & daddy don't usually let me play on their computers, so i had to get up in the middle of the night to do this in secret. don't reply to this email or my mommy will find out and i'll get in lots of trouble. then again, maybe she'll be so impressed that i could get out of bed, find her computer and figure this out that she'll forget my first punishment.

i can't wait to meet you too. my friend lauren has a stuffed mouse that you kind of look like, so i think i'll like you. as long as you don't pull my bows out of my hair or push me over and make me cry like some of my other boyfriends, i'm sure i'll be really into you. but you'll have to be okay with me pulling your hair and maybe trying to poke your eye like i do with doggies. i'll do my best not to try to stuff you in my mouth like i do almost everything else in my life. you'll probably still be faster than me so you'll be able to get away if you don't like how i play.

speaking of, is 9-midnight your only time to play? because that's after my bedtime and my mommy really doesn't like it when i get up in the middle of the night. if yes, and i like you once i meet you, i can sneak out of bed again. maybe we can wait until my second night there so i can learn my way around your house. but i'd really prefer my primetime - like, say, 7am? or you could even join me in my crib before mommy & daddy will let me out and i just talk to my teddy bears, around 6:30am? i've never tried lettuce, but i also really like carrots, so i think we can work out a menu. maybe i can also share some of my favorite pears or some cheerios with you. but mommy says i can't share my milk with you. i'm not really sure why, but i guesll i'll have to drink your water (if you have a sippy cup for me).

okay, i gotta get back to bed before i wake up mommy or daddy. it kind of takes me awhile to climb over the railing since i can't fit through them like you could.

i love you too!
elynor (my daddy calls me big E. you can too.)