Oh, what a whirl!

Four incredible months. Watching Eloise grow these past four months have once again opened my eyes to the amazing hands of my Creator. God is awesome. As I stare down at her while she is nursing, I think about how just one year ago, I had that positive pregnancy test. Where a small part of me and a small part of her dad came together to create what is now this living, breathing, smiling, cooing, drooling, cuteness of a baby. Let anyone who's ever had a child, or even just held a child for a moment in their arms, see and realize the greatness that is God. It has never been more real to me as it is looking into my daughters eyes. Holding her hands, kissing her feet, singing in her ear. She is perfection. God's perfection.

Tummy time.

Baby Klemsz.

Well, we sure had a fun-filled Saturday! It started out hot as we headed to the Prairie Hill Learning Center to celebrate MilkWorks 10th anniversary of supporting breastfeeding families. We packed Eloise up in the wrap and we explored the country school and farm. Take a look at all the fun we had!

Watching the pony rides.

Dancing to the String Beans!

Tracing Eloise's hand print for the MilkWorks mural.

Watching the sheep and ponies eat.

Pretty.

Sunflowers as big as her head!

Watching the bubbles.

Exploring with Daddy. It was HOT!

Love the owls.

Strollin'.

Wore out.

As I mentioned, Eloise is 4 months old today! I hear a lot of moms say it, but this is my favorite stage yet (I know I'll say that next month, too!) Take a look at this cuteness...

Ruffles!

Oh, stop.

Eloise also rolled over from her back to her tummy this past week (with a diaper and clothes on even! So that means I can share the video!)

Another adorable new thing she found is her feet. Diaper changes may never be the same! And speaking of diapers, she's now graduated to the next size of FuzziBunz.

What?

See, look Mom. My feet!

Gran likes to play "Kiss the Pigs" with Eloise.

Eloise loves it! She'll stick out her foot if Gran backs away.

Eloise and her delicious Mac & Cheese FuzziBunz.

She is growing like a weed. She's about 14 1/2 pounds (today anyway...) I'm already sorting through and packing up so many clothes and diapers that are too small for her now. As well as some toys that she has outgrown already. (You can't bounce very well in your seat when your bottom touches the ground...) It's crazy to be packing it all away until next time...

An exciting week to come! Justin and I are celebrating our 6 year anniversary! Unbelievable! Also up this weekend, Justin and I will be one of the couples on a cloth diapering panel at MilkWorks. Expecting and curious parents get to come ask questions and see what the real life scoop is about poop (in cloth diapering anyway). We are very excited! : )

The pictures say it all...

We've been busy the past couple weeks! Take a look at what we've been up to!

Hangin' on the patio with Gramps.

Daddy and his girl.

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this cute outfit.

Birthday lunch with Grandpa Al. She was eying his beer...she is her father's daughter.

Her fists are her food of choice these days.

Bumbo!

Chattin' with Grammy.

More Bumbo!

What are you looking at?

Chatting with Grandma.

Eloise went to her first wedding a couple weekends ago. She had so much fun! She actually started a rave. ; )

Morning cuddles with Grandma.

Eloise meeting my Godmother, Maryke, for the first time. Love.

Eloise's first hibachi experience. She feel asleep in the middle of it.

Papa Allen made Eloise laugh!

Swinging on the front porch with Grandma.

Telling Uncle Mitch a thing or two about being a baby.

Hanging out with cousin Sandra.

They don't look related at all, do they? ; )

Daddy and Eloise having a date watching the Women's US Soccer team in the World Cup. USA! USA!

First time at the farmer's market. Eloise loved all the things to look at!

Happy Independence Day! We learned very quickly that Eloise was not a fan of the loud, screaming fireworks. (And Mommy was not a fan of trying to keep her asleep for the night.)

Not impressed. (But oh so cute in her stars and stripes!)

Ok, maybe a little impressed.

Happy Mommy with her happy baby.

Eloise loves to be outside.

Nice bib!

Eloise's cousin London came all the way from Atlanta to see her. Eloise LOVED watching him and playing with him. London got some good practice in for his baby sister who is arriving in September.

Grandma and Eloise watching London set off his fireworks.

London liked to take pictures of Eloise.

Story time with Grandma. London always wanted to hold and "pet" Eloise. She loved it.

Sweet cousins. : )

Lounging in their pjs with Grandma. The best kind of snuggling. 

Eloise rolled from her tummy to her back a couple weeks ago. I got it on camera, but needless to say, it was right after her bath, and I'm sure several years from now, she'll thank me for not making it public. She is jabbering like crazy. She has this new scream that she likes to talk in. Sometimes it's hard to know if she's just talking or if she's getting mad. : )

She is growing like a weed. Almost 14 pounds now! Crazy that she started out at less than half that when she came into this world.

Our little family is doing wonderfully. We continue to thank God for our beautiful, healthy baby girl, and for the awesome experiences we've had so far being parents. We wouldn't trade it for anything.

Thankful for the things I don't have to give up...

Well, the transition back to work over the past two weeks has been fairly easy. For me anyway. It's been nice for me to get out of the house on my own for a few hours. I love the people I work with, so it's been nice getting to have more adult conversations throughout the day.

Justin, on the other hand, hasn't had as smooth of a transition no thanks to Eloise not wanting to take a bottle. We thought we had prepared her enough for it, but Justin soon saw the wrath that is hungry-Eloise-what-on-Earth-are-you-trying-to-feed-me? After a few days of her pretty much crying her self to sleep, then waking up just to start it all over again, I researched and bought a fourth kind of bottle for her to try. She started out great with it, but still had her moments. Now on week three, we are hoping for smooth or even just smoother sailing. Justin has had a couple really great evenings with her and they have such a great time together. Eloise loves her Daddy.

These past couple weeks going back to work has really opened my eyes to realize how hard it must be for moms (and dads) to go back to work full time. With being on maternity leave for 12 weeks, I got into the habit and maybe not appreciating all the time I got to spend with Eloise. Now that I'm back to work, even just part time, I've realized how lucky I am to still get to enjoy so much of that.

I love that for the most part, Eloise will sleep 8-9 hours a night. (Hallelujah!) But I'm thankful that those nights that she wakes at 4:00am that I can tiredly go to her knowing I don't have to be to a job in 4 hours. I can enjoy that time with her even with sleep in my eyes.

I'm thankful that my husband will let me get a shower in before he leaves for work. And I'm thankful that on a couple mornings a week I get to cook us breakfast. I'm thankful that on most mornings I get to enjoy a cup (or two...) of coffee while I sit for a quite moment, waiting for Eloise to wake up.

I'm so utterly thankful to be able to sneak into the nursery while she is starting to stir, and just watch, in amazement this beautiful gift I have been given. Thank you God for these moments! Sometimes it's still hard to believe that she is mine. I'm so lucky to get to see that huge smile on her face when she realizes Mommy is there. I help her stretch and rub her back. It is her (and Mommy's) most favorite time of day.

I'm thankful for the time. The time I get to just let pass by. I'm not hurried to get out the door. I'm not hurried to get a diaper changed. I'm not hurried to get her bathed. God has taught me so much already. You can ask anyone close to me, and they would tell you I've always been one to go, go, go. Not enough time in the day. I thrived off being busy. Those days are gone (for the most part) and I'm happy, oh so happy, to just let life happen. I guess I'm blessed to have a baby who sleeps and naps well so that this go, go, go Mommy can get a lot of "going" done while baby sleeps.

So today, I'm thankful to have this morning to write these thoughts down. As I sip my second cup of coffee, I'm thankful that Daddy was able to cut his early morning workout short to put Eloise back to sleep while Mommy took a shower.

Oh so thankful. Oh so blessed.

Another month older...

Eloise is 3 months old today. Wow. What a ride. I love her to pieces. 

Just chillin'. Blowing bubbles.

Sleeping beauty.

Had to get a close up of her sweet hands.

Good morning sleepy face! My favorite time of the day.

Oh so many bubbles.

And more.

Daddy calls it her "bubbles soul patch".

Smiley face!

Bubble soul patch.

Rock-a-bye with Gramps.

Sweetness.

Daddy's girl.

Love.

Another m

Hi!

Sweet face.

Eloise finds a new voice

Eloise loves diaper changing time. I mean really, who wouldn't like a nice, warm, cloth wipe to clean you off? Followed by nice, warm air from the blow dryer to get good and dry (and prevent diaper rash!). And then to have a fresh and soft FuzziBunz cloth diaper put on. Here was our diaper changing and chat time from last night. It will make you smile, I promise.