Baby Loves Broccoli

It's possible that you are all getting tired of watching Eli eat. However, we continue to think it is really silly. Here she is with broccoli - her new new favorite food. This weekend she also discovered roasted red peppers.

Hooray for Baby Mangan

This weekend we also celebrated the upcoming arrival of Baby Mangan. The little man should be making his arrival sometime in April and I can't wait! The party was really fun and we lucked out with beautiful weather. While I was at the shower I kept thinking that a year ago a bunch of women surrounded me to shower me with wishes for a healthy baby. Knowing the joy that Eliana has brought into my life makes me even more happy and excited for Kristin.

Kristin and her mom, Dottie

Kristin and Darcy - due only a few weeks apart. Kristin's having a boy and Darcy is waiting to find out. I'll call it now - I think it's a girl. However, I was certain that Eliana was a boy and so I really don't know anything about anything.

The group commonly known as "The girls" - Me, Alexis, Kristin, Darcy and Sarah

My mom was able to join us for the celebration, too. Alexis got this shot of us.

Ten Months

On Sunday the 7th of March, Eliana celebrated her ten month birthday by going on an outing to the Japanese Gardens. Spring was in full bloom and it was spectacular. As always, Eli enjoyed cruising around in the Ergo and taking in the sights.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from our day.

Ms. Independent

Eliana has recently decided that eating baby food is for, well, babies. She now only likes to eat things that she can pick up by herself and put in her mouth by herself. No exceptions. Here are two of her favorites:

Eli "Seaweed Lover" Stiles

She is also a huge fan of pears and flaxseed

Standing and walking are also in our near future. She's super mobile and it's really amazing to watch her figure out how to move around and check things out.

Here's what happens...

when I leave Greg in charge.

Eliana's 9 month celebration

In honor of our little bug turning 9 months old we celebrated by a weekend up at the mountain. Saturday found us at Ski Bowl. It was my first time going there and I had a blast. Greg and I switched off with Eli in the lodge. I got to (finally) ride with Eryn. So nice to make some turns with another lady. We stayed with Eli's friend, Hazel, at a place in Government Camp on Saturday night. Hazel let her parents come, too. Eliana managed to eat a crayon while she and Hazel were playing in the living room. No kidding.

On Sunday we cruised up to Meadows so that Greg could spend the morning coaching the Lakeridge team. We worked out a plan earlier in the week for Greg to head up to the top of the race with my snowboard and his on the chairlift. I would then put Eli in the backpack and snowshoe up to the top of the race. I would then transfer Eli to Greg and get my board. If it all worked out Eli would get her first ride down the mountain on her dad's back. The long hike was worth it. My apologies to those of you who might think this is dangerous. We decided it was less dangerous than riding in a car and we do that everyday.

The hike was really physically demanding on me, but it was totally worth this:

Once we got to the bottom of the run, Greg went in with Eli. I made a couple more runs with our friends Rob and Jess. Snowboarding is so amazing. The snow was really nice and I love cruising down the hill.

I'm still riding the wave of awesomeness that surrounded the weekend. I love my husband. I love my daughter. I'm a lucky, lucky lady!

Brunch and Babies

We were lucky enough to spend this weekend eating brunch and drinking mimosas! On Saturday we spent most of the day with our friends the Youngbloods and the Moersfelders. Eliana and Parker (below) are almost birthday twins. Eliana was born on May 7th and Parker arrived on May 10th. It is really fun to see them together. I couldn't resist adding this series of photos where Eliana maintains this totally stoic look and Parker is full of fun faces. Adorable.

Here's Taylor, Parker's big sister, showing off her dance moves for Greg.

On Sunday we went out to Tanya's house for another binge of brunch. Two more of Eli's friends, Annalise and Kaya, were there. She's a very busy 8 (almost 9) month old!

Next weekend we are going to take a break from brunch and babies and focus on riding a (hopefully) very powdery mountain!