A Lot of Firsts

We all went down to Florida for Eliza's first vacation. Kirk, along with Grandma and Grandpa Smiley (his parents) made the 18 hour drive while Eliza and I flew. Eliza did great on her first flight. We had a layover in Atlanta each way which gave me time to eat, change diapers, and feed her. She fussed just a bit on two flights and slept straight through the other two! Once we touched down in Sarasota, Eliza saw the ocean for the first time (yeh, it's the Gulf of Mexico, but close enough!). We gave her homemade organic rice cereal for the first of many times...once she gets used to the idea! With the help of a floaty she swam in the pool for the first time and the gulf, too! Overall Eliza did a great job. We had busy days driving around and it was also pretty warm (in the 90's), but she kept smiling! This was the first of many times down there now that Grandma and Grandpa Smiley bought a condo on the trip. We can't wait to go back and do it again!


First morning breakfast












First walk on the beach

First taste of chocolate/lime ice cream. This is two different cones...she didn't get to eat that much!

First few bites of rice cereal

All done with this!

First time in the pool and sunning in the shade!

A day on the beach where she worked on rolling over

The last night we did sunset shots with everyone

A Little off the Top (and a lot off the sides and back)!

After almost two years, I've gone back to shorter hair with the actual plan to keep it this way. Goodbye pseudo-mullet, goodbye quarterly haircuts (maybe?), goodbye bushy sides, and goodbye wind-blown dishelvedness. Hello driving with the windows down, even on a workday, and it's all just in time for a trip to sunny Florida!

Have These Always Been There!

This week she has found her feet. She now loves to hold them all the time! Still no real rolling yet but that will be soon I am sure.

State Fair

On Sunday we went to the State Fair with Eliza's Aunt Colleen and Nick. It was a very hot day, but it was still great fun. We got excited for future years and all that Eliza will get to see and do! Here are some of our favorites of the day.

Eliza actually watched the chickens but really liked the baby ducks.

World's biggest pumpkin and pig.

Star Trek made of cans (Kirk: I had to edit this, because my non-geeky wife originally wrote "Star Wars"...for shame)

Great raptor show






A calf hanging out with its family.

Cowgirl Eliza (she totally wasn't happy about this)

Elmore Wedding

Eliza sat through her first wedding this weekend, and she did a great job! She hardly made a peep during the ceremony (which was quite impressive), but then she was a bit overwhelmed during the reception and cried for a while. Too much loud music, and she must have been jealous of our buffet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is hard to see but the dress I wore was my grandmother's. I remember seeing it hanging in her closet when I was a little girl and loving it. It must have been special to her since it was the only piece of clothing that she saved from those years. My mom remembers grandma wearing it to a party when she was a small girl. Then when I was in college I tried it on and was shocked that my grandma and I were the same size! It was hard to picture the woman that I had always known was not always shaped like...well, a grandma!

Eliza wore the same outfit to Katie's reception (see earlier post). We thought we would cross our fingers and press our luck with the silk dry clean only outfit one more time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kirk danced with Eliza during the father-daughter dance, and I caught it on camera perfectly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first three photos were taken by our friend Alex. You can see more of his shots on Flickr.

Four Months!

Eliza is four months old today and had her check up with the doctor. She is now 25.5 inches long and 13lb 15oz! She is doing well, and we are waiting for her to start wanting to roll over. She got a few more shots that made her sleep through most of the evening.

The white outfit she is wearing we actually got on our honeymoon in Bangkok for a friend's little girl but then never ended up giving it to them. So it's officially her Thai outfit ;)

We are also reading to her as part of her bedtime routine. She loves the touch and feel books and looks at the pictures until she gets tired and just wants to lay down. She does love to lay in her crib and relax before falling asleep...I am sure that will not always be the case!

Spending Time with Aunt Megan & Uncle John

We headed up to MI this past weekend to spend time with John and Megan! The Zolman's always open their home to us, and we thank them so much for the great times we have had up there as well as the blueberry pancakes! Eliza and I sat out for the movie on Saturday but everyone loved The Hangover and continued to quote it the rest of the weekend. Wouldn't be a complete trip without visiting the local bar and grill for a as well as playing some highly competitive Wii. Eliza can't wait to go up again soon!














John & Meg's 1st anniversary! See last years post about the big day here!





































Eliza's first time to the beach!

The Winning Streak is Over

On Sunday afternoon, when hanging out with our neighbors, we (the husbands) decided to go see the Cubs play in Cincinnati on Wednesday night. I was excited since I hadn't seen the Cubs play yet in person this season. On Monday night and Tuesday night, they crushed the Reds, but last night, hoping to see the sweep, we weren't so lucky. A journeyman pitcher threw a complete game shutout, the Cubs played horribly, and the good guys lost 4-0. It was quite a dull game since the Cubs only managed four hits (three singles and a double, hit by the pitcher), but at least the company was fun and entertaining!

This was the first Cubs game I had seen live in about 4 years that we lost, so my good luck winning streak is officially over. If it hadn't, I was ready to ask the team for some complimentary season tickets to work my magic all season!

Here's a shot from our seats in shallow left field right before the game started. Lots of empty seats, which is normal at most stadiums on a weeknight, but growing up used to Wrigley Field, it's still weird to see so many empty spaces.


We got to watch a lot of Alfonso Soriano in left, and my neighbor Brian thought he caught Soriano staring at him a few times. He's a little paranoid. Soriano was clearly looking at me!


Rich Harden started for the Cubs, and despite a horrible second inning where he gave up 3 runs and committed an error, he didn't pitch too badly.


It's the top of the 8th inning, the Reds are winning, and yet still so many empty seats. There were as many Cubs fans there as Reds fans, so I wonder how empty the Great American Ballpark is on a Wednesday night when the Pittsburgh Pirates are in town.

At least the St. Louis Cardinals lost and we are still tied for first place in the division!