Words on our street.

14 months is a fun age! Eloise and I pretty much play all day. She helps me water the plants and flowers outside each morning. She loves to get wet, even with the cold hose water. She gets in the mud. She likes to visit with the neighbor's puppy while I hang diapers on the line.  Most days we have 2 wardrobe changes. Here she is with her new mushroom pool.

Lincoln is full of fabulous parks and living so close to the trail, we try to hit one up every day. As long as I help her get situated, she goes down the slide all by herself now! She says "hi" and waves to all the kids, sometimes she'll even try to steal a hug from them.

The Lincoln Zoo is just a short walk from our house, we go there at least once a week. She loves getting kisses from the goats and watching the penguins swim. I think if she had her choice of animal to bring home with her, it would be a peacock. Oh, and the choo-choo. Loves the choo-choo. (I've always loved Lincoln, but am discovering how much more I love it seeing how much they have to offer for kiddos.)

We sing songs and read books throughout the day. Basically, by 2pm when I put her down for her nap and it's Mommy's turn to go into work, I'm exhausted! Justin got me a toddy maker for Mother's Day. The iced-vanilla-almond lattes are just what I need for the afternoon drive to work.

Eloise is saying something new everyday it seems. I thought I'd better jot down a list of words now before there are too many to remember.

So far, for family names she says: Dada...Mama...Papa...Lonon (London)...Mae (Maeve)...Gi-Gi (GG)

Food: app (apple)...nana (banana)...cheese...meh (milk)...joos (juice)...noodles

Animal sounds: moo (cow)...woof (puppy)...mouw (cat)...snort (piggy)...*can't spell out this sound (elephant)...ahhhhhh! (peacock)...ba (sheep)...*can't spell out this sound (fishy)

Other sounds: wee-ooo, wee-ooo (fire truck)...ch-ch (train)...*can't spell out this sound (car, tractor, truck, lawn mower, airplane)

Other words: dut (duck)...eyes...nose...anun-nun-nun (another/again)...mun (moon)...su (sun)...shoes...buh (book)...baba (baby)...ouch

Signs: please, more, bath

And how could I forget: "Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!" (as I hear her waking up for the day. The first thing she finds in the morning is her book shelf, and needless to say, she gets very excited about it.)

Here is a fun video of Eloise reading her alphabet book to me.

Easter. Everyday.

Easter is such a joyous time of celebration. Good Friday is always an important day for me to remember the huge burden Christ endured for me to be made new. Many days I don't remember to give thanks to Him for this, when I should. But the story of the Passion is a powerful reminder of His love and forgiveness. I'm thankful that He's chosen me to be His.

Justin proposed an idea recently that I hadn't really thought of before. But I liked it and hope to be able to change my thinking. On Easter, we celebrate Jesus rising from the grave. Conquering death. Our sin washed away, once and for all time. This is HUGE, people! So, Justin posed the question, Why can't every day be Easter? So, that's going to be my way of thinking. Jesus IS risen! Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Hallelujah!

Our family enjoyed a beautiful day to celebrate together. Eloise had her first egg hunt. I snapped a photo. Or two...

We also got up close to PaPa's other Squirrelly Girl.

Blowing Bubbles

Enjoying a beautiful evening outside blowing bubbles.

One thing I'm discovering more and more as Eloise continues to blossom, is remembering some of the little things I did as a kid and now getting to experience them with her. I mean, no one is too old to play with bubbles. I'd just forgotten how much fun they are! And baby dolls. I mean, now I have a baby of my own, but to see Eloise play "Mommy" with the baby doll I played with as a child is completely amazing. And adorable.