Snow!

This is what I get for being lazy. I told Katy I would pull my car in to the garage later but I forgot. So I had to spend about 8 minutes freezing my butt off while I scraped the snow and ice off of my car this morning.

Little Tigger Baby

Nora was Tigger for Halloween this year. My favorite part of her costume is the little round belly. Grandma Foote's favorite part is that she matches. Nora, Andrew, and I went to Grandma's school for the Halloween parade. She also got to go Trick-or-Treating with Mommy & Daddy!

Birthday Fun

Nora's first birthday was October 29. We had a party with lots of food, family, and presents! All of Nora's Utah cousins, and aunts & uncles, and Grandma & Grandpa Foote, and even Great-Grandma Foote came.

The poor little kid was pretty confused when she woke up from a nap to enter a room filled with balloons, streamers, presents, and lots of people staring at her with expectant and slightly manic grins on their faces. But as usual, Nora figured everyone had come to play with her. And this time, they really had! Nora's cousins give her lots of love and attention.

Another confusing event was the opening of presents. Like most kids, Nora was more interested in the the discarded ribbons, papers, and boxes than the actual books, clothes, and toys. The younger cousins loved playing with the toys, though.

And finally there was a cake. Everyone else got to eat purple cake, but Mama made a special doggie cake for Nora. She got to rip into that all by herself. Again, a bit of confusions as people watched expectantly for her to do something hilarious. She took great handfuls of the cake, and finally ate some once she figured out that's what it was for.

We had a wonderful time! Quinn and I could not be any prouder or feel any more blessed with our wonderful little family, and all of our awesome extended family.

Daddy, Nora & Ethan

Lots of Family

My Cake!

Sharing with Daddy

The Ball & The Bear

Eleanor is really starting to understand us. She is starting to say different things too. The Ball and the Bear are probably her favorite toys

Nora Misses Nothing!

I am always amazed at the things that catch Eleanor's eye. Granted the fire hydrant is quite bright, but Nora sees just about everything that is going on around her.

My All-Time Fave Photos of the Weekend

Hey, Britt. Don't bust a gut with the effort!

Sweet Baby, Sweet Grandpa

Rexburg, ID

For those of you asking, "Where the heck is Rexburg, ID?" I don't blame you. It's a fairly out of the way place, unless you're heading to Bear World or West Yellowstone. Or unless you're a student at BYU-Idaho, which my sister and brother-in-law are.

Anyway, it's a tiny little place, but I find it rather quaint. Brittany and Brian took us to a public park with its own water park and carousel. What a fun time!

Grandpa & Nora discovering new things.

Wow! Where's all this fun water coming from?

Nora was trying to grab handfuls of water.

Um, you think she likes the swing? ;)

Doesn't she have the most precious smile?

Meeting Mason

We took a little trip last weekend to see Brian and Brittany up in Idaho. Dad was visiting too, so he got to meet Mason, grandchild #9.

Aunt Katy and Mason

Mason & Daddy

Mason's Milk Coma

Nora: Buckeye fan through and through

4th of July Fireworks

Quinn and I debated the whole day about whether to keep Nora up past her 8:00 bedtime for fireworks. In the end, we settled on waking her up around 9:30 to go to Grandma & Grandpa Foote's house. There we set off fireworks in front of their house with Uncle Jarum & Aunt Michelle, and cousins Amber, Megan, Jenna, and Andrew. We were a little nervous as to what Nora's reaction would be to the loud noises and bright lights.

See for yourself...

Hi. My name is Nora Foote. I'm a trouble-maker.

Cute? Yes.

Smart? Yes.

Good crawler? Yes.

Energetic? Oh my, yes.

Good-natured? Yes.

Trouble-maker? YES!!

Exhibit A:

This is where I go to hide. Hee hee! Mama can't find me!

Exhibit B:

Hey, can I climb up this blanket onto the chair?

Nope, turns out all I can do it pull stuff down and knock stuff over

and make messes in general.

Exhibit C:

Wow! Look at me! I can climb up on a basket of DVDs and

turn on this light all by myself.

Exhibit D:

Ha ha! I just splashed Daddy!

Phew! Turns out all this mischief-making really

tires a girl out.

zzzzzz.....

Father's Day

This year Father's Day and Katy's birthday fell on the same day. We got together at Grandpa Allan's house on June 21st to celebrate Father's Day, the birthdays of Katy, cousin Jaime, and Uncle Donnie, and the Summer Solstice. Yay, longest day of the year! Nora had so much fun and played so hard that she wouldn't even slow down to eat.

Nora with Great Grandpa Allan

(We love this little nose-wrinkling thing

she's been doing lately.)

Great Grandpa Allan, Grandpa Joey, Daddy Quinn & Nora

Grandpa Joey, Grandma Karen, Quinn, Katy, GGpa Allan & Nora

Uncle Ray's Piano

Eleanor just loves all the noise she can make playing the piano.

Gimme that camera!

Just when I think Nora can't get any more beautiful, interesting, funny, smart, and cute, she surpasses herself.

She loves electronic gadgets - anything that lights up, makes noise, has buttons, and/or is expensive. Thing is, now that she's crawling (I know - at only six months!) she goes after the gadgets with surprising speed and determination. Since her birth, we had suspicions that Nora would keep us on our toes. She's pulling it off nicely!

Shopping

We love being able to strap Eleanor into shopping carts, high chairs and other devices that make life easier.  Now that She's big enough to fit in them...

Les petits français bébé

So Nora has to take vitamin drops every night. The vitamins contain an iron supplement, and as you may know, iron stains. On this particular night, Nora decided she didn't want to take them. I can't really blame her because they taste like cherry cough syrup that has had pennies soaking in it for a week. Blechh!

Because of Nora's reluctance to taking the vitamins, she got them everywhere. I think it makes her look like she's got a little french mustache and goatee. Uh-huh-huh! (That was a throaty french laugh in case you were wondering.)

Socks

We never have to tell Eleanor to "Put a sock in it!" she just pulls off her own socks and sticks them in her mouth.

A great deal!

Adorable bib overalls, huh? Got 'em for $1.75 at kiddie consignment shop!

Easter

Happy Family

Daddy's Girl

Proud Mama

Nora's Easter Dress. What a beautiful day for a beautiful little girl!

Visitors from Afar

We had visitors from Ohio and Idaho: Grandma Shawver, Aunt Brittany, and Uncle Riran (Brian). Nora loves all the attention she gets from everyone. She gets to play, read books, take snuggle naps, and play some more.

One of Nora's new favorite activities is staring at Uncle Brian. For some reason, she finds Brian fascinating. Her eyes follow him wherever he goes. Nora like to get smiles and hugs from him. She is such a flirt!

Brian and Brittany are having a great time playing with Nora and getting a little "parent practice." After all, they only have three months before Baby Bisoni is scheduled to arrive.

Outing to the Park

Today it's 65 degrees, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky. After being cooped up all winter, we just had to get outside, so we went to the Murray City Park.

Nora hasn't really been outside that much, so there were plenty of new things for her to look at and explore: cars passing by, grass, tree bark, the stream, the gazebo, kids at the playground. Just laying in the shade of a tree and staring up at the sky is a new experience.

As you can see from the picture, Nora has learned how to sit up on her own. She's getting pretty good at balancing herself when she starts to tip, but she still topples over sometimes. Mama stays pretty close to prevent any ouchies.

Chilly Spring Mornings

Marilyn (Katy's Mom) is in town for the week. Katy's sister Brittany and her husband Brian also came into town for the weekend.
We all rode Trax (the local light rail) into the city on Saturday to go to the morning session of General Conference.
I don't think the April Showers got the memo that Spring is here. We are still getting snow flurries and I don't think the flowers appreciate the cold.
This is a picture of Katy and Eleanor as we walked around the grounds at Temple Square.

Sweet Potato Face

The adventures in new foods continue!

Brrrrr...

What weird weather! How does it go from 68 degrees and sunny on Friday to 32 degrees and snowy on Monday?