The Games We Play

Some of Eleanora's recent antics...

Dress up


Pointing to the birds

Sorting wood chips fun with friends

Peek-a-boo on the playground


"Vacuuming" - it's hard work!

Adorable Girl, Exciting Message

Eleanora has an exciting announcement to make...

Baby #2 will make his or her debut sometime around the end of September. We are so excited! Thrilled that Eleanora will be a big sister, and thrilled (and also at times terrified) to become a family of four. And now that I am firmly in the 2nd trimester and the constant nausea is s-l-o-w-l-y starting to fade, we can focus on the excitement of life beyond sea bands and ginger!

Out with a Bang

"Spring break" (I again use this term very loosely) ended with a bang. Friday night, friends from college and their adorable little love made a pit stop at our house during a road trip from chilly Denver to a beautiful Mexican beach. Burke and Eleanora hit it off immediately and had a ball together. The fits of giggles coming from the nursery was music to my ears. The few times I dared to peak in, Eleanora was sitting back in her rocker watching Burke put on some kind of stuffed animal show that was simply hilarious.

Sweet Burke and our girl

Lately, when I'm in the kitchen bustling around, Eleanora desperately wants to be up where she can see the action. This becomes a problem when either my back gives out or I need two hands for a task. Yesterday, she was completely devastated that I was doing the dishes without her help (I wasn't too thrilled either). On a whim, I pulled a chair over to the sink so she could enjoy all the fun (ha!) of washing dishes by hand. The screams, giggles, and shouts of delight coming from my happy helper made me actually enjoy this usually dreaded chore.

We ended the weekend by enjoying a fabulous dinner last night with John, Erin and Katherine who are soon moving (sniff, sniff) to Athens, Georgia where John will be teaching at the University of Georgia. We are thrilled for their success and in complete denial that we are facing a future in Tucson without these dear friends.

Spring Break

Ben is on Spring Break this week, which is nothing like the spring break of our undergrad days. His drastically reduced self-imposed schedule for the week is a mere (!) 6 hours of school work a day. Yes, much better than his typical 14 or so hours, but not exactly what I'd consider a vacation. Once I got over my pouting and whining, we've actually had a great few days tackling projects around the house, spending more time together as a family than usual, and enjoying a slightly more leisurely pace. Yesterday we made the trek to Phoenix to hit the zoo again, and then headed to Ikea for a cheap dinner and some shopping. It was a wonderful, productive, fun day!

Waving to the train every time it passed

What Giraffes? There's a squirrel in there!

This little guy was pretty enamored with our girl. Can you blame him?

Sweet and Sour

Striking a pose on a rainy afternoon


Patiently and politely requesting more to drink

Relaxation and Fun

After a typical marathon reading session with Eleanora on the couch (this girl cannot get enough), she wiggled out of my lap, grabbed her favorite book, and kicked back for a little solo pursuing. Notice the crossed legs.

Ben and Eleanora have so many fun games that are just between them. Below are pictures of a recent addition. It's called "pretend to be asleep and wake up with a giggle over and over". I like that it ends with a slobbery kiss for Ben.

This past weekend we had a joyous visit from Uncle Bob and Aunt Jan who were in Phoenix for a conference. UB drove down Saturday afternoon and spent the day with Eleanora and I. He took us to lunch, treated me to marvelous, stimulating, and often humorous adult conversation, and joined us for a walk to the park. He and Eleanora bonded over blueberries and slides.

On Sunday, we met both UB and AJ at the Phoenix zoo for a marvelous afternoon of animal watching. We had a wonderful, too-brief visit with our favorite Chicago residents.