More Daddy & Eliana

Brian surprised us and dropped by one early afternoon last week since he was in the area, but not off work yet... Eliana got extra Daddy lovin' since it was naptime and sister was already sleeping!

 Whatcha look at?!

Afternoon Play...

Aspen has discovered jumping! She LOVES to jump...on the ground or on a trampoline, she does great. Perhaps she got the Moreno's gymnastic gene - who knows... She loves jumping though.

Aspen Jumping - love her smile

While sitting with Aspen outside, Eliana was making the prettiest smile at me... I tried catching it, but just couldn't...

Eliana ended up needing something, so I set the camera down (in a safe spot) and went to get whatever it was. When I returned, Aspen was in my chair, saying, "I take pictures of Sandie..." I figured she had snapped a coule of shots, as she was holding my camera, but didnt realize how many until I uploaded the pictures. I'm pretty sure she took at least 30... but, the picture below turned out pretty good! I was impressed....we won't mention most of the others...but, they were all of Sandie!

Teen Dinner Prep

There is a Teen Bible Study & Dinner each month for our youth group. This month, we hosted it. It was a crazy day for me, but thankfully Keri came and help me with getting everything prepared and set up. Aspen, also wanted to get in on the helping Mommy. I thought it was so precious!!! I set the folded napkins on the table, then placed some extras in the middle of the table. Next, I set a pile of forks on the table, to be placed at each setting when I had time....Aspen decided to do that for me; even though I had to re-do it, it was still helpful! 

 

This picture is so 'thoughtful'! I have these square plates in Eliana's room - I used to use them in my room as decor, but they have just be sitting in Eliana's room for now... Aspen realized I was setting the table, and also realized those were plates in the other room!! She then brought them out and placed them on the table. She had never put 2 + 2 together that those were plates before; they had always been together as decor. I was so proud of her that she set them out...even if I did have to take them back.

Mama's Big Helper

The dinner/Bible study was so good. The Lord blest it, we had a wonderful turn out, and the kids had a  blast. Thank you to Mom McDonald for helping me with the games, and to Keri for helping me pull everything together. So thankful for you both!!!

Celebrating Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day by going to church that morning, then the McDonald Clan came to our home for lunch... We had planned to spend the evening with the Moreno's, but Mom Moreno was sick with pneumonia! (She is doing much better(!), but I'm sure she would still appreciate some prayers as she's not quite 100%) So, ya'll will have to come back to see the pictures of us celebrating with her later... 

We enjoyed J0hnny C@rino's Bowtie Festival (copy cat recipe), Summer Salad, and Bread for lunch... then a Coconut Cream Cake for dessert. 

Helping Granny open her gift...

 Pretty Aunt Bekah

Alyssa & Aspen in the back

We walked over to feed the ducks, and found the small family of ducklings that we have been watching... the sad thing is the ducklings keep disappearing! All of them except one family have disappeared!!! Mom & Rebekah think they saw a baby gator in pond...I saw it the day before and thought it was a otter or something like that... We're definitely looking for it again now....

After everyone left, Aspen came to me, crawled up into my lap and asked me to sing to her. I sang 'Jesus Loves Me' 3x's, and she was out!! Daddy & Eliana was too. I wanted to be, but knew as soon as I did, Eliana would wake up hungry...

I know the next SEVERAL pictures all seem the same, but if you look closely, you can see the MANY faces of Eliana. :) I had fun as I scrolled through all of them. 

(LOVE this one!!!)

Snuggling with Daddy...

I got to snuggle with both my girls, sleeping in my arms on Mother's Day! 

Mother's Day Tea - Aspen's First Tea

Mrs. Kim planned a special "Mommy & Me" Tea at our church the Saturday before Mother's Day. She did SUCH a superb job. Everything was so 'warmly' decorated - a relaxing, fun atmosphere. One things I would never have thought of, was a 'kids corner'. She had set up tables for all the mommies and  daughters, but off to the side, was a little table to toddlers - complete with a teapot, plates, cups, flatware, everything perfect for them. Aspen, and Malia - Kim's Daughter/Aspen's friend, LOVED it. Kim really did an incredible job! And, the food spread was delicious! And, on top of ALL that -- she brought a very applicable devotion on "tea" from the Word of God. I still need to get those notes... Thanks, Kim, for such a special time!  

Eliana's Jumperoo

The Lord answered yet another desire and prayer of mine, by providing us with a Jumperoo. (Thank you Auntie for blessing us with the opportunity to purchase this for Eliana!) 

She loves it...

It may look like her feet are on the floor - but they are far from it! 

Aspen loves it as much as Eliana I think...

This afternoon, it wore precious little girl out...

I love how her feet were resting on the pillow.

Growing Daughters...

Okay...You may believe me if you want, I promise I speak the truth. Eliana is and incredibly strong little girl. One of the first things Brian & I noticed about her after her birth, was how muscular she is. When the following picture was taking, Eliana was 2 1/2 months. I laid her in the middle of her playmat, on her belly, facing the giraffe. Then, I needed to tend to Aspen, so to the kitchen I went, where I ended up sitting down and just snuggling Aspen since that was what she needed. After a little bit, Aspen went to get her shoes on...she rounded the counter and stopped dead in her tracks. I then decided to see what was up, and I ended up doing the same thing... This is what we saw!! Crazy! Eliana had scooted well off the mat, and changed directions...she'd gone a good 2 feet! 

Aspen found my stash of markers...she's had fun ever since...and, my praise to God for non-toxic, washable markers gets louder and louder each time. 

Watching sister color...